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THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST 



The Story of the Churches 



The Disciples of Christ 



By 
ERRETT GATES, Ph. D. 

Associate in Church History, University of Chicago 

Author of " The Early Relation and Separation 
of Baptists and Disciples " 



NEW YORK: THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO. 
33-37 East Seventeenth St., Union Sq. North 



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<£>Pq^ 



OCT 9 iyu5 

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Copyiight, 1905, 

By 

The Baker & Taylor Co. 

Published, September \ 1905 



Publishers' Note 

The aim of this series is to furnish a uniform 
set of church histories, brief but complete, 
and designed to Instruct the average church 
member in the origin, development, and his- 
tory of the various denominations. Many 
church histories have been issued for all de- 
nominations, but they have usually been 
volumes of such size as to discourage any 
but students of church history. Each vol- 
ume of this series, all of which will be 
written by leading historians of the various 
denominations, will not only interest the 
members of the denomination about which 
it is written, but will prove interesting to 
members of other denominations as well 
who wish to learn something of their fellow 
workers, The volumes will be bound uni- 
formly, and when the series is complete will 
make a most valuable history of the Chris- 
tian church. 



\ 



Contents 

CHAP. PAGE 

I. The Campbells .... 7 
II. Religious Conditions in Scotland 

and Ireland . . . .17 

III. The Christian Association of 

Washington . . . 33 

IV. Barton W. Stone and the Spring- 

field Presbytery ... 64 
V. The Union with the Baptists . 80 
VI. Alexander Campbell as a Baptist, 100 
VII. The Reformers Among the Bap- 
tists . . . . .127 
VIII. The Separation of the Reformers 

from the Baptists . . .154 

IX. The Union of the Reformers as 

Disciples of Christ . . 177 

X. Early Growth and Organization 212 

XI. The Rise of Internal Controversy, 235 

XII. Missionary Organization . . 259 

XIII. Evangelism, Journalism, Educa- 

tion and Church Growth . 277 

XIV. Recent Tendencies and Problems, 304 
Bibliography . . . -335 
Index ..... 339 

5 



The Disciples of Christ 



CHAPTER I 

THE CAMPBELLS 

The Disciples of Christ will complete the 
first hundred years of their history as a dis- 
tinct religious movement in 1909. Their 

e in 1809 is marked by the withdrawal 

f Thomas Campbell from the Seceder 
Presbyterian church in Western Pennsyl- 
vania and the publication of the so-called 
Declaration and Address. 

Thomas Campbell was born in County 
Down, Ireland, February 1, 1763. His 
ancestors were the Campbells of Argyle- 
shire, Scotland, a clan famous in the polit- 
ical and military history of the country. 
He was the eldest of a family of four sons, 
all of whom showed marked religious dis- 

7 



8 The Disciples of Christ 

positions and took leading parts later in 
life in local religious affairs. The father 
belonged to the Church of England, and 
always preferred to worship after the Epis- 
copal ritual, but his sons turned with greater 
sympathy and pleasure to the simpler wor- 
ship of the Covenanters and Seceder Pres- 
byterians. Very early in life Thomas passed 
through a deep religious experience, which 
set at rest his fears of the divine displeasure 
and gave him assurance of salvation and 
acceptance with God. His religious experi- 
ence conformed to the theological teach- 
ing which he met and accepted in attend- 
ance at Presbyterian churches. It was of 
that serious Calvinistic sort which laid par- 
ticular emphasis upon the divine activity in 
conversion. The spiritual monitions at- 
tending his conversion were such as not 
only to give him assurances of salvation, 
but to lay upon him the duty of consecrat- 
ing himself to the ministry of the gospel. 
The moment of his conversion was also the 



The Campbells 9 

moment of his dedication to the min- 
istry. 

He naturally turned to the Seceder church 
as a sphere for the exercise of his ministry, 
but the proposal met with the disfavor of 
his father; and being under age he yielded 
for the time to the wishes of his father and 
continued his work as a teacher in an Eng- 
lish academy which he had established in 
the less enlightened regions of Ireland. 
Hitherto his education had not passed be- 
yond a good English schooling, at a mili- 
tary regimental school near Newry, County 
Down, and what by his native genius and 
aptitude for study, he had acquired by self- 
education and in the practice of teaching; 
but upon his return from teaching in the 
central parts of Ireland, he was taken under 
the patronage of a Mr. Kinley, who en- 
couraged him in his desire to enter the 
ministry and gave him financial assistance 
to continue his education in the University 
of Glasgow. After completing his literary 



lo The Disciples of Christ 

studies in the University, he entered the 
theological school of the Seceders at Whith- 
burn, then in charge of Dr. Archibald Bruce. 
He completed his theological studies in five 
sessions of eight weeks each and was 
licensed to preach among the Anti-Burgher 
Seceders, as a probationer, under the super- 
vision of the Synod. 

Very little is recorded of his early life as 
a preacher. He was always obliged to carry 
on his teaching to eke out his meagre salary 
as a preacher and provide for an increasing 
family. He was married to Jane Corneigle, 
of French Huguenot descent, in County An- 
trim, Ireland, in 1787. Their first child, born 
in 1788, was a son, whom they named Alex- 
ander. The two men, father and son, were 
destined to be, the one the inaugurator, 
the other the promoter of the religious 
movement whose history is the theme of 
this work. As the son of Thomas Camp- 
bell and Jane Corneigle, Alexander Camp- 
bell had the best blood of Scotland and of 



The Campbells il 

France flowing in his veins. He is said to 
have had a striking resemblance to his 
mother, both in character and physical 
appearance, while she possessed all that 
we have come to associate as best with the 
French Huguenot character. 

The father accepted the pastorate of the 
Seceder church at Ahorey, County Armagh, 
and moved his family to a place called Rich 
Hill. The son was about ten years of age 
when this took place, and so far had given 
no evidence of anything unusual in his in- 
tellectual powers. He had received the 
rudiments of his early education under his 
father and in the academy of his uncles, 
but no scholastic regimen could subdue the 
native physical strength and buoyant spirits 
of the boy. He was well on towards six- 
teen years of age before he was distin- 
guished by anything but his irrepressible 
love of sport and out-of-doors exercise. 
He was simply a normal, healthy boy, with 
a good mind and a well disposed moral 



12 The Disciples of Christ 

nature. Of early piety and precocious re- 
ligious experience we hear nothing. His 
restless physical spirit must have fretted 
more than once under the long religious ex- 
ercises of his Seceder home and church, for 
it was the rule of the church prescribed by 
the synod that "the minister should wor- 
ship God in his family by singing, reading 
and prayer, morning and evening; that he 
should catechise and instruct them at least 
once a week in religion; endeavoring to 
cause every member to pray in secret morn- 
ing and evening." Besides this it was the 
rule in the home that "every member 
should memorize, during each day, some 
portion of the Bible, to be recited at even- 
ing worship, and each again rehearsed on 
the evening of the Lord's day; that every 
one should go to meeting, and on returning 
home give an account of the text and of the 
discourse preached/' 

Such discipline had its effect upon the 
boy. His intellectual and religious awaken- 



The Campbells 13 

ing finally came when he was about eight- 
een years of age. They seem to have been 
coincident, He entered with zeal and effi- 
ciency into the work of assisting his father 
in the academy. He began to experience 
" great concern in regard to his own salva- 
tion." In a later account of this period he 
says: "From the time that I could read the 
Scriptures, I became convinced that Jesus 
was the Son of God. I was also fully per- 
suaded that I was a sinner, and must obtain 
pardon through the merits of Christ or be 
lost forever. This caused me great distress 
of soul and I had much exercise of mind 
under the awakenings of a guilty conscience. 
Finally, after many strugglings, I was enabled 
to put my trust in the Saviour, and to feel my 
reliance on him as the only Saviour of sinners. 
From the moment I was able to feel this re- 
liance on the Lord Jesus Christ, I obtained 
and enjoyed peace of mind." He was re- 
ceived as a member of his father's church at 
Ahorey and under the solicitation of his 



14 The Disciples of Christ 

father began to devote time to theological 
studies. It was not until later, however, 
that the son dedicated himself to the ministry 
of the gospel, though it was the father's 
wish that he do so from the beginning of 
his life. 

The labors of the father were divided be- 
tween his duties as pastor of the church at 
Ahorey and superintendent of his academy 
at Rich Hill, where he lived. His first inter- 
est was always the religious interest. He 
was a careful observer of and interested 
actor in all the religious affairs of his 
country and time. He was possessed by 
nature of a broad Christian spirit which 
transcended the sectarian boundaries of his 
own denomination. The " occasional hear- 
ing" of ministers of other religious bodies, 
reluctantly granted by his own denomina- 
tion, and then only when there was no 
meeting at the same hour and in the same 
place in one of their own churches, was 
eagerly seized upon by Thomas Campbell 



The Campbells 15 

and improved. He was a frequent attendant 
at the evening meetings of the congrega- 
tion of Independents at Rich Hill, and was 
on the most cordial terms with them as 
neighbors. He was found entering into co- 
operation with all religious movements 
whenever opportunity was offered. He 
became a member of the " Society for Prop- 
agating the Gospel at Home," organized 
by the Haldanes and composed for the most 
part of members of the Church of England, 
whose object was the arousing of a deeper 
religious spirit throughout the British Isles 
to counteract the deadening influence of 
French infidelity and liberalism. 

He felt that the religious need of the times 
was a union of all the people of God. It 
must have pained his soul to witness the 
divisions going on in the two branches of 
the Seceder church of which he was a mem- 
ber. The story of the division and subdi- 
vision of this church, the resulting nar- 
rowness and bitterness of spirit mani- 



16 The Disciples of Christ 

fested towards each other, is a fitting 
background against which to understand 
the spirit and motives of Thomas Camp- 
bell. 



CHAPTER II 

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN SCOTLAND AND IRE- 
LAND 

In Thomas Campbell's time sectarianism 
and religious bigotry had gone to seed in 
the Seceder church. It was conceived in 
pride and bitterness, born in narrowness, 
and grew up in exclusiveness. Its sources 
lie far back in the history of the Scottish 
church. 

When the Reformation suddenly invaded 
Scotland in the year 1560, it found the 
Scottish people and the ruling nobility ready 
for it. "The Estates convened in August, 
the Calvinistic confession of faith was ap- 
proved, the Roman Catholic religion was 
abolished, and the administering of the 
mass, or attendance upon it, was forbid- 
den — the penalty for the third offense being 
death/' "On the morning of the 25th of 
17 



18 The Disciples of Christ 

August, 1560, the Romish hierarchy was su- 
preme ; in the evening of the same day, Cal- 
vinistic Protestantism was established in its 
stead." The nobility and the common 
people joined in their desire to see the over- 
throw of Roman Catholicism, and made 
common cause against the king and church. 
The nobility feared the power and craved 
the vast wealth of the Roman church, while 
the people longed for a purer ministry, a 
worship in their own language and a voice 
in the affairs of their parish churches. It 
was an expression of the democratic spirit 
in religion. 

No form of Protestantism so completely 
satisfied this spirit as the Presbyterian. 
John Knox had gone to Geneva and sat at 
the feet of John Calvin. He brought back 
to his native Scotland and recommended to 
his people both the doctrine and the order 
of Calvinistic Presbyterianism. They found 
these to their liking. Presbyterianism was 
essentially democratic, and gave to the peo- 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 19 

pie the right to choose their own pastors 
and a representation in the government of 
the church. It was impossible that the old 
order could be completely wiped out and 
destroyed in root and branch. Some roots 
remained. One of the strongest to remain 
was the institution of patronage which the 
nobility was interested to maintain. When 
the property and revenues of the old church 
fell at one stroke into the hands of the re- 
forming party, the nobles laid claim to it as 
a part of their estates which had been 
alienated by pious ancestors through dona- 
tion and bequest to the church. It properly 
escheated to the owners of the estates from 
which it was originally set aside to main- 
tain parish churches. The nobles had their 
way in spite of the protest of the religious 
leaders. Parish livings for the support of 
the pastors now fell into the hands of 
nobles and landowners who exercised the 
right of patronage or presentation to living. 
It was impossible that a pure Presbytery 



20 The Disciples of Christ 

could be grafted upon this old stump of pat- 
ronage. The people might choose a man 
to be their pastor, but if he did not suit the 
patron, the holder of living, who might be 
a Romanist, an Episcopalian, or a Presby- 
terian, the chosen pastor could not settle 
with his parish. 

After more than a century of struggle on 
the part of the Scottish people to keep their 
Presbyterianism against the encroachments 
of English Episcopacy, they were finally 
victorious at the time of the Revolution 
Settlement of 1690. By this settlement 
Presbyterianism was constituted by act of 
Parliament the established religion of Scot- 
land, and with the overthrow of Episcopacy 
went patronage. But only for a time. It 
came back by act of the English Parliament, 
which now included the Scottish Parlia- 
ment, in the year 1712, and was destined to 
remain, the principal cause of all the troub- 
les of the Scottish church, until finally 
abolished in 1874. 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 21 

It was incident to the troubles growing 
out of restored patronage that the Seceder 
church arose in Scotland. The system of 
patronage completely nullified the free 
choice of the pastor by the people. The 
patron took the initiative and presented as a 
pastor for the church a man to his own 
liking, and was not necessarily governed by 
the desires of the people or the needs of the 
place. Private and pecuniary consider- 
ations very often operated in the presenta- 
tion. The people were obliged to acquiesce 
in the appointment or go without a pastor. 

It was the conflicting interests and wishes 
of patrons and people that often came be- 
fore the presbyteries or assemblies for set- 
tlement. An attempt on the part of the 
Assembly to remedy the evil of vacant 
parishes by obliging presbyteries to induct 
pastors on call of heritors, if Protestant, and 
elders, (in cases where patrons refused to 
make a presentation within six months 
after a vacancy that they might obtain the 



22 The Disciples of Christ 

income for themselves,) called forth a bitter 
protest against the action of the Assembly 
by Ebenezer Erskine, in a sermon delivered 
as retiring moderator of the Synod of Perth 
and Stirling. He was rebuked by the Synod 
for offensive utterances in the sermon. He 
appealed to the Assembly of 1733 against 
the rebuke of the Synod and was joined by 
three other ministers. The Assembly ap- 
proved the action of the Synod and ordered 
that Erskine be rebuked before the bar of 
the Assembly. He refused to submit in 
silence to the action, and was called on to 
retract, failing which in a year he was sus- 
pended from the ministry of the church. 
The protesters seceded from the established 
church and constituted themselves into a 
Presbytery. When the Assembly relented 
a year later and opened the door for their 
return by removing all censure and restor- 
ing their names to the ministerial roll, they 
stubbornly refused to return. They went 
on organizing churches and constituting 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 23 

presbyteries, and by 1742 constituted the 
first synod out of three presbyteries and 
thirty congregations. The ranks of the Se- 
ceders were from time to time increased by 
withdrawals from the establishment of 
churches and members who had been out- 
raged by the violent intrusion of obnoxious 
pastors upon them. Rather than submit, 
they seceded. The secession profited for a 
long time by the workings of the law of 
patronage. 

These Seceders, as they were called, be- 
gan to regard themselves as the true church 
of God in Scotland and identified themselves 
with the church of the first and second 
reformations. When George Whitfield 
came to Scotland they demanded that he 
confine his ministrations to their churches; 
and when asked "why," they said, "be- 
cause we are the Lord's people/' "Are 
there no other Lord's people but you ?" he 
inquired. " And supposing all others are the 
devil's people; certainly, they have the more 



24 The Disciples of Christ 

need to be preached to." August 4, 1741, 
was proclaimed throughout their body as a 
day of fasting and humiliation for the 
countenance given to Whitfield. 

It was not long before strife broke out in 
their own ranks over the lawfulness of the 
oath administered to burgesses of towns. 
Some held that a Seceder who happened to 
be a burgess could not consistently swear 
"to profess and allow with his heart the 
true religion presently professed within the 
realm and authorized by the laws thereof," 
without promising to support the church 
from which they had seceded, and now re- 
garded as "a household of Satan." Con- 
sequently they divided in 1747 into Burghers 
and Anti-Burghers. Each proclaimed itself 
to be the true church and anathematized the 
other. 

The Burgher branch of the Seceders was 
for a long time stirred with dissension as to 
the power of the civil magistrate in relig- 
ious matters. They divided on the question 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 25 

in 1796 into Old Lights and New Lights. 
A similar division took place in the Anti- 
Burgher branch in 1806. There were now 
four distinct parties of Seceders. The 
divisions of the parent body in Scotland 
were transferred to its new home in Ireland. 
Thomas Campbell became a member of the 
Old Light, Anti-Burgher branch of the 
Seceders. 

All branches grew in narrowness and bit- 
terness of spirit, as their ranks diminished 
in numbers through division. " In 1798 the 
Anti-Burgher Synod forbade the people to 
attend or give countenance to public preach- 
ing by any who were not of their commun- 
ion; and a year afterwards actually deposed 
and excommunicated one of its ministers 
for having heard Rowland Hill and James 
Haldane preach." A case is on record 
where the Burgher Synod cited one of its 
members before it, for working as a mason 
on an Episcopal chapel in Glasgow, and de- 
creed that he was highly censurable and 



26 The Disciples of Christ 

M ought not to be admitted to any of the 
seals of the covenant till he profess his sor- 
row for the offense and scandal that he had 
given and been guilty of." 

The spirit of bigotry and sectarian ani- 
mosity was not confined to the Seceders. 
The established church herself and all dis- 
senting bodies, including the Presbytery of 
Relief, finally narrowed the grace of God 
and his covenanted mercies to their own 
bodies. To the genial Christian spirit of 
such a man as Thomas Campbell, the 
spectacle of these divisions and animosities 
between Christians seemed more than child- 
ish; they were sinful. As he reflected upon 
them he must have inquired the reason for 
them and sought a remedy. His own 
church was rent asunder before his eyes 
and he was forced to take sides on a ques- 
tion which had no meaning in Ireland 
where the burgess oath never had been in 
use. So needless seemed the perpetuation 
of the division between Burghers and Anti- 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 27 

Burghers on Irish soil, that he led in an 
effort to unite the two bodies in 1805, but 
failed through the unwillingness of the 
Scottish General Synod to free the Irish 
Synod from its jurisdiction. The union 
was finally accomplished in 1818. 

Other influences were at work upon both 
of the Campbells beside the hard and bitter 
sectarianism of the times. The church of 
Independents at Rich Hill, which they fre- 
quently attended, held to doctrines and 
practices which subsequently became char- 
acteristic of the churches founded by them 
in America. Independency in Scotland 
originated with John Glas, a minister of the 
established church, who was deposed in 
1730 for teaching that " there is no warrant 
in the New Testament for a national church ; 
that the magistrate, as such, has no place in 
the church, and has no right to punish for 
heresy; that both the National Covenant 
and the Solemn League and Covenant are 
without scriptural grounds; and that the 



28 The Disciples of Christ 

true reformation is one that can be carried 
out, not by political and secular weapons 
but by the word and spirit of Christ only." 
He gathered around him a group of people 
who shared his views, and adopted in all 
his teaching the principle that the Scripture 
is the only standard of both doctrine and 
practice. He accordingly adopted the ob- 
servance of the Lord's supper every Sunday, 
the practice of feet washing, the holy kiss, 
mutual exhortation in public worship, 
plurality of elders, community of goods, 
and other customs which he derived from 
the primitive church. His son-in-law, 
Robert Sandeman, took up his views and 
established churches. They were called 
Glassites or Sandemanians. They de- 
veloped into a narrow, exclusive sect, and 
divided into no less than three parties, each 
disavowing all fellowship with the others. 

The last decade of the eighteenth century 
was characterized by unusual ferment in re- 
ligious circles in Scotland and Ireland. The 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 29 

older Presbyterian bodies threw off, by 
reason of the tyrannical power of the 
church courts, a variety of persons an^ 
groups of persons, all of whom took the 
direction of independency. In 1768 arose 
the " Old Scotch Independents"; in 1769, 
the "Old Scotch Baptists"; in 1780, the 
"Bereans"; in 1798, the "Modern Congre- 
gationalists"; and between 1790-1800, the 
evangelistic activity of Rowland Hill, the 
Haldanes and their associates, gave rise to 
many "Tabernacle Churches" throughout 
the British Isles, notably in Scotland and 
Ireland, which swelled the ranks of inde- 
pendency. Many of these new sects on ac- 
quaintance found themselves in agreement 
with each other and came together. The 
features which they shared in common 
were, independency in church government 
and a more strict adherence to the Scrip- 
tures in faith and practice. This appeal to 
the precedent of the primitive churches in 
its application to their doctrines and prac- 



30 The Disciples of Christ 

tices occasioned many internal contro- 
versies. The question of baptism inevitably 
came up for discussion, and finally de- 
termined the arrangement of independent 
bodies into two groups : those who ad- 
hered strictly to immersion, and those who 
treated the form of baptism as a matter of 
indifference. This question of baptism di- 
vided the Haldanean societies, both of the 
Haldanes adopting Baptist views. "The 
new notions spread over most of the 
churches of the connection, and contention, 
strife of words, jealousies, and divisions 
followed, of which none but such as passed 
through the painful scenes of those days 
can have any adequate idea." "The oc- 
currences in question, while they embar- 
rassed and weakened the churches, exposed 
them also to the triumph and sneers of 
adversaries, while at the same time much 
odium was brought on every attempt to 
follow out scriptural fellowship." Through 
the influence of Greville Ewing, one of the 



Conditions in Scotland and Ireland 31 

associates of the Haldanes, their societies 
quite generally adopted the weekly com- 
munion of the Lord's supper. 

The congregation of Independents fre- 
quently attended by the Campbells at Rich 
Hill seems to have been of the Haldanean 
order, for the Haldanes were occasionally 
heard in the church. It was in this church 
that the Campbells heard such men as J. A. 
Haldane, Rowland Hill, Alexander Carson, 
and John Walker, concerning the latter of 
whom Alexander Campbell wrote in 181 5: 
"I am now an Independent in church gov- 
ernment; of that faith and view of the 
gospel exhibited in John Walker's Seven 
Letters to Alexander Knox, and a Baptist so 
far as regards baptism." 

Such were the religious conditions and 
influences surrounding the Campbells in 
Scotland and Ireland during the closing 
years of the eighteenth century and the 
opening years of the nineteenth. They 
were both negative and positive: negative, 



32 The Disciples of Christ 

in disgusting them with the petty differ- 
ences and bitter animosities of sectarianism; 
and positive, in acquainting them with and 
disposing them towards the teachings of 
the Independents. This is shown in one 
matter — the weekly observance of the 
Lord's supper. "From the first all the 
Congregational churches, with the excep- 
tion of a few in Aberdeen and the north, 
observed the Lord's supper every first day 
of the week, as a part of the usual morn- 
ing service." Thomas Campbell introduced 
the weekly observance of the Lord's supper 
into the first church he established in 
America. 



CHAPTER III 

THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF WASHINGTON 

The health of Thomas Campbell began to 
suffer some impairment from his excessive 
labors as preacher and teacher, and his 
physician recommended a sea voyage as a 
remedy. 

Many of his neighbors had gone, and more 
were going, to America, to seek homes. 
Some of his Seceder friends had emigrated 
to the New World. To take a journey to 
America, whether to see the country as a 
visitor or remain as an inhabitant, would 
not be going alone or entirely among 
strangers. He bade farewell to his Seceder 
congregation at Ahorey, and took letters 
of dismissal and testimonials from the church 
and the Presbytery of Market Hill. Leaving 
his family behind and the academy in charge 
of his son Alexander, he set sail April 8, 
33 



34 The Disciples of Christ 

1807, and arrived in Philadelphia thirty-five 
days later, where he found the Seceder synod 
in session. He presented his credentials, 
and was assigned to the Presbytery of 
Chartiers, in Western Pennsylvania. 

The Seceders lost none of their peculiari- 
ties by being transplanted to the New World. 
They brought their Old World "testimo- 
nies " with them and perpetuated their di- 
visions in America as they had in Scotland 
and Ireland against the better feeling and 
judgment of many of their members. The 
Anti-Burghers were the first to establish 
churches in America, and when the Burghers 
arrived on the ground there was a disposi- 
tion to go into the Anti-Burgher fellowship. 
There was even less reason for the division 
of Seceders into Burghers and Anti-Burghers 
or into New Lights and Old Lights, in 
America than in Ireland, for the divisions 
grew out of political conditions which were 
completely changed in this country. Penn- 
sylvania became the stronghold of Seceder- 



The Christian Association 35 

ism. The Anti-Burgher branch, being the 
stronger, absorbed the Burgher element in 
the stream of emigration from the Old 
World, and put itself under the oversight of 
the Associate (Anti-Burgher) Synod of Scot- 
land. This body in America became more 
exclusive and conservative than the body 
in Scotland, and in 1796 passed "an act 
against occasional communion, which ever 
afterward remained the law of the 
church." 

Thomas Campbell had not been long at 
work among his New World Seceder 
brethren before he broke over the narrow 
boundaries of his denomination and violated 
one of its most cherished usages. It had 
decreed to have no fellowship with brethren 
of other Presbyterian parties, much less 
other denominations. But when Thomas 
Campbell went into the religiously desolate 
parts of his field, he invited his brethren of 
all Presbyterian parties who were without 
pastoral care and the sacraments of the 



36 The Disciples of Christ 

church, to join his Anti-Burgher members 
in communion service. Whether it was due 
more to the zeal of his ministerial brethren 
for the correct usages of Secederism or 
to their jealousy of his growing power 
and popularity, that they assumed a hos- 
tile attitude towards Mr. Campbell, is not 
clear; but it was not long before sufficient 
offense had been given to warrant them in 
openly proceeding against him before the 
Presbytery. He was charged with depar- 
ture from the standard of Seceder faith and 
with violation of the rules and usages of the 
church. There is no record of the trial be- 
fore the Presbytery, but judging from the 
contents of a letter written immediately 
after to the Synod, we may infer that he 
pleaded for larger liberty and fraternity than 
were allowed by the "testimony" of the 
church, and took his stand upon the au- 
thority and teachings of the Scriptures over 
against the authority of the "testimony." 
The Presbytery voted him deserving of cen- 



The Christian Association 37 

sure. He protested and appealed to the 
Syood. 

Mr. Campbell was desirous of continuing 
in fellowship with the Seceders and working 
harmoniously with them, but he was not 
willing to do so at the sacrifice of his Chris- 
tian liberty and fraternity, or the primacy 
of the Scriptures as the law of his Christian 
conscience, and the rule of his faith and 
practice. By this time he had clearly grasped 
the principles by which he was to govern 
his own conduct in religious matters, and 
by which alone he believed the church of 
God could be brought to unity and purity. 
How long before this he had arrived at his 
position cannot be said. It first appeared in 
the letter to the Synod. The letter is too 
long to quote in full, but it is so important 
a piece of evidence in the development of 
Thomas Campbell's religious position, that 
it cannot be entirely omitted. He said : 
"Honored Brethren : Before you come to 
a final issue in the present business, let me 



38 The Disciples of Christ 

entreat you to pause a moment and seriously 
consider the following things : To refuse 
any one his just privilege, is it not to op- 
press and injure? In proportion to the 
magnitude and importance of the privilege 
withheld, is not the injustice in withholding 
it to be estimated ? If so, how great the 
injustice, how highly aggravated the injury 
will appear, to thrust out from communion 
a Christian brother, a fellow-minister for 
saying and doing none other things than 
those which our Divine Lord and his Holy 
Apostles have taught and enjoined to be 
spoken and done by his ministering serv- 
ants, and to be received and observed by 
all his people! Or have I, in any instance, 
proposed to say or do otherwise? If I 
have, I shall be heartily thankful to any 
brother that shall point it out, and upon his 
so doing, shall as heartily and thankfully 
relinquish it. Let none think that, by so 
saying, I entertain the vain presumption of 
being infallible. So far am I from this, 



The Christian Association 39 

that I dare not venture to trust my own 
understanding so far as to take upon me to 
teach anything as a matter of faith or duty 
but what is already expressly taught, and 
enjoined by divine authority. " "It is, 
therefore, because I have no confidence, 
either in my own infallibility or in that of 
others, that 1 absolutely refuse, as inadmis- 
sible and schismatic the introduction of 
human opinions and human inventions into 
the faith and worship of the church. Is it, 
therefore, because I plead the cause of the 
scriptural and Apostolic worship of the 
church, in opposition to the various errors 
and schisms which have so awfully cor- 
rupted and divided it, that the brethren 
of the Union should feel it difficult to ad- 
mit me as their fellow laborer in that blessed 
work ? I sincerely rejoice with them in 
what they have done in that way; but still, 
all is not yet done; and surely they can 
have no just objections to going farther. 
Nor do I presume to dictate to them or to 



40 The Disciples of Christ 

others as to how they should proceed for 
the glorious purpose of promoting the unity 
and purity of the church; but only beg 
leave, for my own part, to walk upon 
such sure and peaceable ground that I may 
have nothing to do with human controversy 
about the right or wrong side of any opinion 
whatsoever. By simply acquiescing in what 
is written, as quite sufficient for every pur- 
pose of faith and duty ; and thereby to in- 
fluence as many as possible to depart from 
human controversy, to betake themselves to 
the Scriptures, and in so doing, to the study 
and practice of faith, holiness and love." 

This extract shows sufficiently the sin- 
cerity of the purpose and spirit of Campbell 
in his conflict with his brethren. It also 
contains echoes and reminiscences of the sec- 
tarian conflicts surrounding him in Ireland, 
and reflects the teachings of such men as 
John Glas, the Haldanes, John Walker and 
Archibald McLean. There is nothing new 
ill his appeal to the authority of Scripture, 



The Christian Association 41 

except the emphasis upon it and use made of 
it. Reforming spirits in all ages of the 
church have made their appeal back to 
Scripture, from Vigilantius and Jovinian in 
the early church through Arnold of Brescia, 
William of Occam, John Wiclif and John 
Huss, to Martin Luther and John Calvin in 
the modern church. The authority of primi- 
tive Christianity appeared in the church 
first as a principle of purity; Luther ap- 
plied it as a principle of liberty, as well as 
purity; Campbell conceived of it as a prin- 
ciple of unity, as well as liberty and purity. 
He believed that a return to primitive Chris- 
tianity would make a united, as well as a 
pure and a free church. The crying need of 
the Protestant church was unity; but the 
path to that unity lay through her deliver- 
ance from a new bondage into which she 
had fallen, a bondage to creeds and theo- 
logical formularies of the faith as conditions 
of union and communion among Christians. 
Here appears for the first time in the history 



42 The Disciples of Christ 

of the church the annunciation of the au- 
thority of Scripture as a principle of Chris- 
tian unity. Here lay the remedy for the 
church's divisions and strifes in his time 
and all time. He announces it with all con- 
fidence and sincerity, as a principle which 
his own brethren who were trying him for 
heresy already accepted, and upon which the 
entire Protestant church was built. He was 
conscious only of recalling an old faith. It 
is self-evident, axiomatic, consentient with 
the mind of all Protestant Christendom. 
With him the appeal to Scripture was 
the end of controversy between him and 
his Seceder brethren. It was equivalent 
to an argumentum ad kominem, and against 
the more open and flagrant departures from 
plain Scripture precept and example would 
be successful. 

The result of the appeal to the Synod was 
to set aside the judgment of the Presbytery 
on the ground of the informalities of its 
procedure, and to release the protester from 



The Christian Association 43 

the censure inflicted by the Presbytery; but 
it decided that there were sufficient grounds 
in his evasive and unsatisfactory answers 
to the charges to " infer censure." He sub- 
mitted to the decision "as an act of defer- 
ence to the judgment of the court," and 
that "he might not give offense to his 
brethren by manifesting a refractory spirit." 
He supposed this would settle the matter, 
and he would be enabled to go on in peace 
with his ministerial labors; but he was dis- 
appointed, for his enemies were all the 
more bitter in their hostility to him. Rather 
than try to continue his work in the at- 
mosphere of suspicion and criticism, he 
deemed it his duty to sever his relations 
with the Seceders. He presented to the 
Synod a formal renunciation of its authority, 
and committed himself to the sympathy of 
the religious world. 

Many persons not only among the Se- 
ceders but members of other religious bodies 
who had heard him sympathized with him 



44 The Disciples oi Christ 

and shared his views. He began to hold 
meetings whenever there were opportu- 
nities, in barns, groves, schoolhouses, and 
the houses of his Irish friends who had 
settled in Washington County, and soon a 
clearly defined group of persons acknowl- 
edged his leadership. They agreed to meet 
at the home of Abraham Altars, to consum- 
mate plans for the future, and agree upon a 
basis of cooperation. In an address on 
this occasion he gave utterance to a sentence 
which was destined to become a kind of 
watchword among those who came under 
his leadership: "Where the Scriptures 
speak, we speak; where they are silent, we 
are silent." He had scarcely finished speak- 
ing when one person present made the ap- 
plication of the principle to infant baptism, 
and concluded that the Scriptures nowhere 
speak of it. They, therefore, ought not to 
have anything to do with it. Mr. Campbell 
was not so easily convinced of this, and 
thought it ought to be treated as a matter 



The Christian Association 45 

of forbearance. At a meeting held August 
17, 1809, a committee of twenty-one was 
appointed, headed by Thomas Campbell, 
to draw up a program of action. They 
agreed to call themselves "The Christian 
Association of Washington/' The results 
of the deliberation of this committee were 
the writing by Mr. Campbell and the adop- 
tion by the Association of what was called 
a Declaration and Address. It is the most 
important document in the entire history of 
the Disciples. It was forged out of the ex- 
periences and charged with the spirit of 
Thomas Campbell. It is free from bitterness 
or vindictiveness, but is passionate with the 
eloquence of one who had felt all the misery 
and meanness of sectarianism. Love and 
sorrow have conquered pride and revenge 
in his soul, and he pleads as a brother with 
his brethren. 

The Christian Association thought of 
itself, not as a church or as a new religious 
denomination, but as a society for the pro- 



46 The Disciples of Christ 

motion of Christian union among all the 
denominations. Its members still held mem- 
bership in the various churches of the region. 
They had no thought of being otherwise 
received by the various denominations than 
as kindly helpers in restoring their faith and 
order to the New Testament model. We 
cannot understand how they so mistook 
the disposition of the various denomina- 
tions towards change and reconstruction as 
to suppose they would cordially or even 
quietly permit alterations in their faith and 
usages, except that the members of the 
Association had an unusually profound, if 
not naive, confidence in the magic of their 
principles. The Declaration sets forth the 
motives and purposes of the Association as 
follows: " Moreover, being well aware, 
from sad experience, of the heinous nature 
and pernicious tendency of religious contro- 
versy among Christians, tired and sick of 
the bitter jarrings and janglings of a party 
spirit, we would desire to be at rest; and, 



The Christian Association 47 

were it possible, we would also desire to 
adopt and recommend such measures as 
would give rest to our brethren throughout 
all the churches: as would restore unity, 
peace and purity to the whole church of 
God." "Our desire, therefore, for our- 
selves and our brethren would be that 
rejecting human opinions and the inven- 
tions of men, as of any authority, or as 
having any place in the church of God, we 
might forever cease from further conten- 
tions about such things; returning to and 
holding fast by the original standard; tak- 
ing the divine word alone for our guide; 
the Holy Spirit for our teacher and guide, 
to lead us into all truth; and Christ alone, 
as exhibited in the word, for our salvation: 
that by so doing we may be at peace among 
ourselves, follow peace with all men, and 
holiness, without which no man shall see 
the Lord." Then follows a statement of 
the purpose and program of the Associa- 
tion: To form a religious association for 



48 The Disciples of Christ 

promoting simple and evangelical Chris- 
tianity, under the name of the Christian 
Association of Washington; to contribute a 
certain sum to support a pure gospel min- 
istry and supply the poor with the Scrip- 
tures; to encourage the formation of simi- 
lar associations; to consider itself not a 
church, but as a church reformation society; 
to countenance only such ministers as adhere 
closely to the example and precept of 
Scripture in conduct and teaching; to entrust 
the management of the Association to a 
standing committee of twenty-one; to hold 
two meetings a year; to open each meeting 
with a sermon; and to look to the friends 
of genuine Christianity for the support of 
their work. 

This is followed by the Address with the 
following dedicatory heading: " To all 
that love our Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity, 
throughout all the churches, the following 
Address is most respectfully submitted." 
After an arraignment of the evils of division 



The Christian Association 49 

in Christendom and an indictment of 
sectarianism, he goes on to plead with his 
" dearly beloved brethren," of "all the 
churches of Christ," "to unite in the bonds 
of an entire Christian unity — Christ alone 
being the head, the centre, his word the 
rule; and explicit belief of, and manifest 
conformity to it in all things — the terms." 

There were certain "fundamental truths" 
of the nature of " first principles " — "truths 
demonstrably evident in the light of Scrip- 
ture and right reason " which underlay the 
proposal for a union of Protestant Chris- 
tians. These self-evident presuppositions 
he puts in the form of propositions as fol- 
lows: 

"1. That the Church of Christ upon 
earth is essentially, intentionally, and con- 
stitutionally one; consisting of all those in 
every place that profess their faith in Christ 
and obedience to him in all things according 
to the Scriptures, and that manifest the 
same by their tempers and conduct, and of 



50 The Disciples of Christ 

none else; as none else can be truly and 
properly called Christians. 

"2. That although the Church of Christ 
upon earth must necessarily exist in particu- 
lar and distinct societies, locally separate 
one from another, yet there ought to be no 
schisms, no uncharitable divisions among 
them. They ought to receive each other as 
Christ Jesus hath also received them, to the 
glory of God. And for this purpose they 
ought all to walk by the same rule, to mind 
and speak the same thing; and to be per- 
fectly joined together in the same mind, 
and in the same judgment. 

"3. That in order to do this, nothing 
ought to be inculcated upon Christians as 
articles of faith; nor required of them as 
terms of communion, but what is expressly 
taught and enjoined upon them in the word 
of God. Nor ought anything to be ad- 
mitted, as of Divine obligation, in their 
Church constitution and management, but 
what is expressly enjoined by the authority 



The Christian Association 51 

of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles 
upon the New Testament Church, either in 
express terms or by approved precedent. 

"4. That although the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments are inseparably 
connected, making together but one perfect 
and entire revelation of the Divine will, for 
the edification and salvation of the Church, 
and therefore in that respect cannot be 
separated; yet as to what directly and 
properly belongs to their immediate object, 
the New Testament is as perfect a constitu- 
tion for the worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment of the New Testament Church, and 
as perfect a rule for the particular duties of 
its members, as the Old Testament was for 
the worship, discipline, and government of 
the Old Testament Church, and the particu- 
lar duties of its members. 

" 5. That with respect to the commands 
and ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
where the Scriptures are silent as to the ex- 
press time or manner of performance, if any 



52 The Disciples of Christ 

such there be, no human authority has 
power to interfere, in order to supply the 
supposed deficiency by making laws for the 
Church; nor can anything more be required 
of Christians in such cases, but only that 
they so observe these commands and ordi- 
nances as will evidently answer the declared 
and obvious end of their institution. Much 
less has any human authority power to im- 
pose new commands or ordinances upon 
the Church, which our Lord Jesus Christ 
has not enjoined. Nothing ought to be re- 
ceived into the faith or worship of the 
Church, or be made a term of communion 
among Christians, that is not as old as the 
New Testament. 

"6. That although inferences and de- 
ductions from Scripture premises, when 
fairly inferred, may be truly called the 
doctrine of God's holy word, yet are they 
not formally binding upon the consciences 
of Christians farther than they perceive the 
connection, and evidently see that they are 



The Christian Association 53 

so; for their faith must not stand in the 
wisdom of men, but in the power and 
veracity of God. Therefore, no such de- 
ductions can be made terms of communion, 
but do properly belong to the after and pro- 
gressive edification of the Church. Hence, 
it is evident that no such deductions or in- 
ferential truths ought to have any place in 
the Church's confession. 

"7. That although doctrinal exhibitions 
of the great system of Divine truths, and 
defensive testimonies in opposition to pre- 
vailing errors, be highly expedient, and the 
more full and explicit for those purposes 
they be, the better; yet, as these must be in 
a great measure the effect of human reason- 
ing, and of course must contain many in- 
ferential truths, they ought not to be made 
terms of communion; unless we suppose, 
what is contrary to fact, that none have a 
right to the communion of the Church, but 
such as possess a very clear and decisive 
judgment, or are come to a very high de- 



54 The Disciples of Christ 

gree of doctrinal information; whereas the 
Church from the beginning did, and ever 
will, consist of little children and young 
men, as well as fathers. 

" 8. That as it is not necessary that per- 
sons should have a particular knowledge or 
distinct apprehension of all Divinely re- 
vealed truths in order to entitle them to a 
place in the Church; neither should they, 
for this purpose, be required to make a 
profession more extensive than their knowl- 
edge; but that, on the contrary, their hav- 
ing a due measure of Scriptural self-knowl- 
edge respecting their lost and perishing 
condition by nature and practice, and of 
the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, 
accompanied with a profession of their 
faith in and obedience to him, in all things, 
according to his word, is all that is abso- 
lutely necessary to qualify them for admis- 
sion into his church. 

"9. That all are enabled through grace 
to make such a profession, and to manifest 



The Christian Association 55 

the reality of it in their tempers and con- 
duct, should consider each other as the 
precious saints of God, should love each 
other as brethren, children of the same fam- 
ily and father, temples of the same Spirit, 
members of the same body, subjects of the 
same grace, objects of the same love, 
bought with the same price, and joint-heirs 
of the same inheritance. Whom God hath 
thus joined together no man should dare to 
put asunder. 

" 10. That division among the Christians 
is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. 
It is antichristian, as it destroys the visible 
unity of the body of Christ; as if he were 
divided against himself, excluding and ex- 
communicating a part of himself. It is 
antiscriptural, as being strictly prohibited 
by his sovereign authority; a direct violation 
of his express command. It is antinatural, 
as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate, 
and oppose one another, who are bound by 
the highest and most endearing obligations 



56 The Disciples of Christ 

to love each other as brethren, even as 
Christ has loved them. In a word, it is 
productive of confusion and of very evil 
work. 

"ii- That (in some instances) a partial 
neglect of the expressly revealed will of 
God, and (in others) an assumed authority 
for making the approbation of human opin- 
ions and human inventions a term of com- 
munion, by introducing them into the con- 
stitution, faith, or worship of the Church, 
are, and have been, the immediate, obvious, 
and universally acknowledged causes, of all 
the corruptions and divisions that ever have 
taken place in the Church of God. 

"12. That all that is necessary to the 
highest state of perfection and purity of the 
Church upon earth is, first, that none be 
received as members but such as having 
that due measure of self-knowledge des- 
cribed above, do profess their faith in 
Christ and obedience to him in all things 
according to the Scriptures; nor, secondly, 



The Christian Association 57 

that any be retained in her communion 
longer than they continue to manifest the 
reality of their profession by their temper 
and conduct. Thirdly, that her ministers, 
duly and Scripturally qualified, inculcate 
none other things than those very articles 
of faith and holiness expressly revealed and 
enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that 
in all their administrations they keep close 
by the observance of all Divine ordinances, 
after the example of the primitive Church, 
exhibited in the New' Testament; without 
any additions whatsoever of human opin- 
ions or inventions of men. 

"13. Lastly. That if any circumstan- 
tials indispensably necessary to the ob- 
servance of Divine ordinances be not found 
upon the page of express revelation, such, 
and such only, as are absolutely necessary 
for this purpose should be adopted under 
the title of human expedients, without any 
pretense to a more sacred origin, so that 
any subsequent alteration or difference in 



58 The Disciples of Christ 

the observance of these things might pro- 
duce no contention nor division in the 
Church. " 

The starting point in his plan of Christian 
union was the sufficiency of the New Testa- 
ment as a rule of faith and practice for the 
Christian church. Acknowledging this, as 
all Protestants were supposed to do, the 
next step was to distinguish in the teach- 
ing of the New Testament between matters 
of faith and matters of opinion. The 
former belonged to the essential condi- 
tions of Christian union and communion, 
were few, easily understood by all, whether 
learned or unlearned, and were not subject 
to interpretation; the latter belonged to the 
realm of non-essentials, were many, were 
subject to interpretation and speculation, 
and should not be made terms of union and 
communion among Christians. The Scrip- 
tures were to be the guide in distinguish- 
ing matters of faith from matters of 
opinion; what they made a matter of faith, 



The Christian Association 59 

and required for salvation, should be essen- 
tial to communion; what they left as mat- 
ter of opinion, could be safely left to the 
exercise of liberty. The realm of liberty 
was to be made larger — as large as the realm 
of opinions. Christians were not to be per- 
secuted or denied fellowship on account of 
their opinions. They were to be bound 
only where the Scriptures bound them. 
There never could be unity in opinions, for 
they were many; there can be unity only in 
faith, for it is one. The Scriptures leave no 
doubt as to what is of faith. He felt 
that this was a sure path to agreement in 
faith and practice among Christians, that it 
would put an end to theological strifes and 
divisions, and that all agreeing, would finally 
unite in one organic body. In the Declara- 
tion and Address, he does not go beyond 
this formal program of action. At this time 
he has not settled, is indeed uncertain of the 
practical determination of, what things are 
matters of faith and what of opinion, and 



6c The Disciples of* Christ 

does not settle the final form of the united 
church. It is yet an untried principle, but 
of its efficacy and ultimate success he 
has no doubt. The task of definition, ap- 
plication, and experiment lay before him, 
and was to raise many questions he had not 
thought of. Not until the organization of 
the first church, when they were called 
upon to fix the terms of Christian fellow- 
ship for those seeking entrance, did they be- 
gin to define what they understood as prim- 
itive Christianity and to distinguish between 
matters of faith and matters of opinion. 
Nothing but matters of faith, things essen- 
tial to salvation, were to be made tests of 
fellowship. 

Here emerge two principles which Camp- 
bell designed should be cooperative and 
mutually corrective, the authority of primi- 
tive Christianity, and the obligation of 
Christian unity. The one was means, the 
other end, while both were equally bind- 
ing. He did not anticipate that there would 



The Christian Association 61 

be conditions where the principles would be 
mutually exclusive, and that a difference of 
emphasis would make them mutually de- 
structive. Here lie the seeds of disagree- 
ment and controversy within the movement 
itself. 

Alexander Campbell, the son, arrived in 
America just as the Declaration and Ad- 
dress was coming from the press. There 
had been no communication as to what was 
transpiring in the religious convictions of 
each, but when they met and discussed the 
events and changes that had taken place in 
the two years of separation, they found 
that they had come to practically the same 
position. The father in America, the son in 
Scotland, each unknown to the other, had 
broken with Secederism. The son fell in 
heartily with the action of his father and the 
principles of the Declaration and Address. 
He had spent one of the two years of sepa- 
ration in study at the University of Glas- 
gow, where his father had formerly studied, 



62 The Disciples of Christ 

and while there came more intimately under 
the influence of the new ideas and move- 
ments of the country. Here he met Gre- 
ville E wing, the Haldanes, and other religious 
leaders of the time who were pressing for 
larger liberty of Christian service under the 
rule of a stricter conformity to the Scriptures. 
The son had not been long in the Christian 
Association of Washington before his gifts 
of leadership were recognized and acknowl- 
edged, and he was called upon to make 
public defense of the Declaration and Ad- 
dress against the criticisms and objections 
of the various religious parties of the com- 
munity. He had dedicated himself to the 
ministry at the time of the shipwreck of the 
family when they first attempted to cross 
the Atlantic to join the father in the fall of 
1808, and were forced to postpone the voy- 
age until the next season. In the meantime 
the family, for the benefit of the son had 
decided to spend the winter at the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow. This resolution on 



The Christian Association 63 

shipboard to give himself to the ministry 
came providentially to make him the de- 
fender and promoter of the new reforma- 
tion. He quickly stepped before his father 
as the destined leader of the movement. 
From the moment of his first effort at pub- 
lic discourse he showed those marked pow- 
ers of eloquence and argumentation which 
lifted him subsequently to the front rank of 
pulpit orators. 



CHAPTER IV 

BARTON W. STONE AND THE SPRINGFIELD PRES- 
BYTERY 

The main stream in the historic develop- 
ment of the Disciples of Christ took its rise 
in the Christian Association of Washington, 
led by Thomas Campbell and his son Alex- 
ander. As a consequence the influence of 
the Campbells has been dominant through- 
out their history. Later in its course the 
main stream was joined by another current, 
of independent origin and decided influ- 
ence, which arose in "The Springfield 
Presbytery," led by Barton W. Stone. 

Stone was born in the state of Maryland, 
December 24, 1772. His father died when 
he was still young and soon after his 
mother removed with a large family of 
children and servants to Pittsylvania 
County, Virginia. It was during the Revo- 
64 



The Springfield Presbytery 65 

lutionary War when the entire country was 
aflame with hatred of the English. The 
political events and conditions of the time 
made a lasting impression upon the mind 
of the boy. He was particularly impressed 
by the novel religious conditions which sur- 
rounded him in Virginia. The coming of 
Baptist preachers into the neighborhood of 
his home after the close of the war, with 
their peculiar manner of preaching and 
form of baptism, excited his interest and 
attention. The experiences narrated by the 
converts of their conviction of sin in dreams 
and visions, especially interested him. On 
the heels of the Baptists appeared Meth- 
odist preachers, of a prepossessing appear- 
ance — grave, holy, meek, plain and humble, 
who were bitterly opposed by the Episco- 
palians and Baptists. These religious ex- 
citements took hold of young Stone and 
created in him an earnest desire for religion, 
but not knowing how to get it, he turned 
his thoughts in other directions. 



66 The Disciples of Christ 

His first plan with reference to a career 
in the world was to become a barrister. 
With this in mind, he took the patrimony 
which had recently fallen to him, and went 
to an academy in North Carolina in 1790. 
He entered the academy in the midst of a 
great religious excitement under the leader- 
ship of James McGready in which thirty or 
more of the students were converted and 
began to hold prayer meetings every morn- 
ing before recitations. The devout atmos- 
phere of the school troubled him with 
thoughts of his own lost condition. He 
tried to find peace in associating with the 
worldly students, and joined them in 
making jests at religion. To get away 
from the annoyance of religious associa- 
tions he even planned to go to another 
school. Under a sermon preached by 
McGready he was so profoundly moved 
that, "had he been standing, he would 
probably have sunk to the floor under the 
impression." Under the awful alarm of 



The Springfield Presbytery 67 

being forever damned if he was not con- 
verted, he resolved "to seek religion at the 
sacrifice of every earthly good." He says: 
"According to the preaching and the ex- 
perience of the pious in those days, I antic- 
ipated a long and painful struggle before I 
should be prepared to come to Christ, or, 
in the language then used, before I should 
get religion. This anticipation was com- 
pletely realized by me. For one year I was 
tossed on the waves of uncertainty — labor- 
ing, praying and striving to obtain saving 
faith — sometimes desponding, and almost 
despairing of ever getting it." The doc- 
trines then publicly taught were, that 
" mankind were so totally depraved, that 
they could not believe, repent, nor obey 
the gospel — that regeneration was an im- 
mediate work of the Spirit, whereby faith 
and repentance were wrought in the heart." 
Under continued preaching and the deep- 
ening of his despair and sense of helpless- 
ness, he sank into a state of apathy, in 



68 The Disciples of Christ 

which he remained for many weeks. He 
was again awakened by a sermon on " God 
is love." He says: " The discourse being 
ended, I immediately retired to the woods 
alone with my Bible. Here I read and 
prayed with various feelings between hope 
and fear. But the truth I had just learned, 
'God is love,' prevailed." "1 yielded and 
sunk at his feet a willing subject." 

At the end of his course of study he de- 
sired to give himself to the ministry of the 
gospel, but "had no assurance of being di- 
vinely called and sent." He disclosed his 
state of mind to a Dr. Caldwell of the Pres- 
byterian Church, who removed his difficulty 
by telling him that he had no right to expect 
a miracle to convince him of a call. He be- 
came a candidate for the ministry, and was 
assigned certain studies and reading in 
preparation for examination. His reading 
on the doctrine of the trinity seemed only 
to confuse him. He resolved to give up 
his study and go into other business, but 



The Springfield Presbytery 69 

was relieved of his difficulties on the trinity 
by reading Watts. He was examined be- 
fore the Presbytery of Orange County, 
North Carolina, and was accepted; but be- 
fore being licensed, took a trip to Georgia 
and engaged in school teaching. Returning 
to North Carolina in 1796 he was licensed to 
preach, and was assigned a preaching cir- 
cuit in the lower part of the state. He was 
still troubled with doubts of his fitness for 
the ministry. To get out of the reach of all 
friends and acquaintances, he resolved to go 
to the Cumberland country, with the stream 
of emigration setting in that direction. He 
was prevailed upon to preach everywhere 
along the way through Tennessee; and by 
the time he reached Kentucky, he was quite 
restored to his desire to preach. He was 
induced to settle as permanent pastor of the 
Presbyterian churches of Cane Ridge and 
Concord. 

When the time for his ordination at 
the hands of the Transylvania Presbytery, as 



70 The Disciples of Christ 

pastor of these congregations, came in 1798, 
it found his mind in a state of doubt and 
perplexity over the doctrines of the trinity, 
election, and reprobation, as taught in the 
Confession of Faith. When the Presbytery 
met he went to two of the leaders and told 
them of his difficulties. He says: "They 
asked me how far I was willing to receive 
the confession ? I told them, as far as I 
saw it consistent with the Word of God. 
They concluded that was sufficient. ,, " No 
objection being made, I was ordained." 

The thing which disturbed his faith more 
than anything else was the doctrine of pre- 
destination and election taught in the Con- 
fession which he was supposed to accept. 
He says: "Often when I was addressing 
the listening multitudes on the doctrine of 
total depravity, their inability to believe — 
and of the necessity of the physical power 
of God to produce faith; and then persuad- 
ing the helpless to repent and believe the 
gospel, my zeal in a moment would be 



The Springfield Presbytery 71 

chilled at the contradiction. How can they 
believe ? How can they repent ? How can 
they do impossibilities ? How can they be 
guilty in not doing them ? " Under an ex- 
perience of ardent love and tenderness for 
all mankind, as he was praying and reading 
his Bible one evening, he said to a person 
present that if he had power he would save 
them all. It came to him with startling 
power that if God loved all men, as he was 
taught to believe, why then, did not God 
save them ? He has the power to save, and 
if he does not, is not that a contradiction of 
his love ? He became " convinced that God 
did love the whole world, but that the rea- 
son why he did not save all, was because of 
their unbelief; and that the reason why they 
believed not, was not because God did not 
exert his physical, almighty power in them 
to make them believe, but because they neg- 
lected and received not his testimony given 
in the word concerning his son." 
In the spring of 1801 occurred the strange 



72 The Disciples of Christ 

religious excitement in the south of Ken- 
tucky and in Tennessee, under the preach- 
ing of James McGready, who had created 
the awakening in the academy where Stone 
went as a student. Stone went down to 
witness the marvellous effects of the meet- 
ings and the "exercises" which seized the 
converts. He went in a skeptical and crit- 
ical frame of mind, but returned to his con- 
gregations fully convinced of the genuine- 
ness of the conversions. His people came 
together to hear his account of the excite- 
ment. His own spirit seems to have caught 
the power of McGready, and the same 
scenes and exercises were reproduced under 
his own preaching. At a meeting which he 
opened in August, 1801, at Cane Ridge, 
there were as many as twenty or thirty 
thousand people, of all denominations, 
gathered together. Many persons came 
from Ohio and more distant parts to attend 
the meeting. 
Stone was not the only preacher in the 



The Springfield Presbytery 73 

Presbyterian. church of the region who de- 
murred to the Calvinistic doctrines of the 
Confession. There were four others, Rich- 
ard McNemar, John Thompson, John Dun- 
lavy, and Robert Marshall. Stone says: 
"The distinguishing doctrine preached by 
us was, that God loved the world — the 
whole world, and sent his Son to save them, 
on condition that they believed in him — 
that the gospel was the means of salvation 
— but that this means would never be ef- 
fectual to this end, until believed and obeyed 
by us — that God requires us to believe in 
his Son, and had given us sufficient evi- 
dence in his word to produce faith in us, if 
attended to by us — that sinners were capa- 
ble of understanding and believing this 
testimony, and of acting upon it by coming 
to the Saviour, and obeying him, and from 
him obtaining salvation and the Holy Spirit." 
These preachers were known and singled 
out by their orthodox brethren for warning 
and reproof. The first one to be proceeded 



74 The Disciples of Christ 

against by the Springfield Presbytery of 
Ohio, for departure from the Confession 
was McNemar. His case was appealed to 
the Synod of Lexington, Kentucky. When 
it appeared in the course of the investigation 
that the decision would go against him, the 
five preachers held a conference and resolved 
to protest against the action of the Synod 
and withdraw from its jurisdiction, though 
not from the Presbyterian fellowship. Fail- 
ing in an attempt to reclaim them, the Synod 
passed a decree of suspension, and pub- 
lished it in their respective churches. The 
five preachers, joined by several others, 
constituted themselves into a presbytery 
which they called "The Springfield Pres- 
bytery." Within a year they dissolved the 
Presbytery under the conviction that they 
were forming a new sect and thus adding 
to the divisions of the one Body of Christ; 
that there was no authority in the Scriptures 
for the name they bore, or the creed they 
confessed, or the Presbyterian organization 



The Springfield Presbytery 75 

they adopted. In a semi-humorous vein 
they wrote what they called The Last Will 
and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, 
in which they willed that the body sink 
into union with the Body of Christ at large; 
that their name of distinction be forgotten 
and that the name Christian be adopted; 
that each congregation govern itself by the 
precepts and rules of the New Testament, 
without delegating any authority to higher 
bodies; that ministers take the Scriptures 
for their study in preparation for the min- 
istry, and obtain license from God to preach 
the gospel; that each church choose its 
own pastor; and that the people take the 
Bible as their only rule of faith and practice. 
The document was signed by six preachers 
who had led in the revolt against Calvinism 
and the authority of the Synod, and was 
dated June 28, 1804. 

The ideas and motives at work in the 
Springfield Presbytery were strikingly like 
those at work in the Christian Association 



76 The Disciples of Christ 

of Washington. They were both guided 
by the desire for the unity of the people of 
God; both saw the way to that unity in the 
rejection of human creeds and authority, 
and in the adoption of the New Testament 
as the only rule of faith and practice; both 
originated in Presbyterianism and were pre- 
cipitated in their course by the oppressive 
authority exercised by a presbytery and 
synod over the faith of a minister; but both 
acted independently and in ignorance of 
each other in the beginning — the Springfield 
Presbytery in Kentucky in 1804, the Chris- 
tian Association in Pennsylvania in 1809. 
The development of the two bodies imme- 
diately after their inception took the same di- 
rection — towards the Baptist position. The 
first one of the ministers to adopt immer- 
sion, and this before leaving the Presby- 
terian church, was Robert Marshall. Stone 
heard of it and wrote trying to dissuade 
him from it. Marshall's reply in defense of 
immersion was so convincing that Stone 



The Springfield Presbytery 77 

was shaken in his mind concerning infant 
sprinkling. He called a meeting of his 
congregations for the discussion of the 
subject, with the result that both preacher 
and people submitted to the rite of immer- 
sion. 

The influence of the teaching of Stone 
extended widely through Kentucky and 
Ohio. Through the defection of Richard 
McNemar and John Dunlavy to the Shakers, 
and the return of John Thompson and Rob- 
ert Marshall to the fellowship of the Presby- 
terian church, Stone was the only one of the 
original five preachers left. He went on 
preaching, making converts, and organizing 
churches as an itinerant until he was called as 
settled pastor of a church he founded in 
Georgetown. On a journey which he made 
into Ohio to baptize a Presbyterian preacher 
who had adopted his views, he went into the 
meetings of a Baptist association. He says: 
"I exerted myself with meekness against 
sectarianism, formularies, and creeds, and 



78 The Disciples of Christ 

labored to establish the scriptural union of 
Christians, and their scriptural name." " The 
result was that they agreed to cast away 
their formularies and creeds, and take the 
Bible alone for their rule of faith and prac- 
tice, and to bury their association, and to 
become one with us in the great work of 
Christian union." This union included 
about twelve Baptist preachers. He traveled 
extensively through Ohio preaching and 
baptizing people, his meetings attended by 
great crowds, and frequently marked by 
strange physical exercises and commotions 
on the part of converts. 

Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone 
had heard of each other during several years, 
but they did not meet until 1824. They 
found themselves in mutual agreement on 
the fundamental principles of their work. 
Their disciples spread over the same regions 
of country, and established churches side by 
side. Two bodies of people so closely re- 
lated in ideas and principles could not per- 



The Springfield Presbytery 79 

manently remain apart. The story of their 
union, which took place in Kentucky in 
1832, will be told in a subsequent chap- 
ter. 



CHAPTER V 

THE UNION WITH THE BAPTISTS 

The friendly overtures of the Christian 
Association to the various denominations to 
confer with them on a plan for the union of 
religious parties was not cordially received. 
The plan of union which was so captivating 
to the mind of Thomas Campbell and seemed 
to many others who joined with him a pan- 
acea for many religious ills, was bitterly op- 
posed by all Christian bodies. They pre- 
sumed too much upon the openness of the 
denominational mind to new teachings, and 
too little upon the devotion of religious 
parties to their customs and traditions. 
The denominations were not ready then 
for a union which contemplated any 
change in their usages or loss of their 
identity, and a hundred years of growth 
since then has not sufficed to dispose 
80 




The Union With the Baptists 81 

them any more kindly towards the de- 
struction of their systems as a condition 
of union. The instinct of self-preservation 
is about as strong in religious bodies as in 
living creatures. As a program of union it 
seemed to be born out of due time. No 
body was fond of it or saw anything in it 
to admire, but its progenitors. 

The members of the Christian Associa- 
tion fell at once under the odium and 
ostracism of a new sect. It was the one 
thing they desired to prevent and regarded 
with the bitterest regret. That a society 
set for the termination of sectarianism 
should itself become another sect in the 
eyes of the world, was a position they 
could not tolerate. Their aim and char- 
acter as a Christian union society must 
be maintained. Nothing would satisfy 
their expectations but a reduction of 
the number of religious parties, while 
they were in danger of increasing the 
number by one. To permit themselves 



82 The Disciples of Christ 

unwittingly to assume a denominational 
form of existence would be a travesty upon 
their principles. The unity of the people 
of God had become the highest obligation 
in their ideal of Christian duty. They 
made haste to get under cover of some 
existing denominational roof, rather than 
suffer the charge of building another. 

In this state of mind proposals came to 
the Association asking them to unite with 
the Presbyterian church. They had come 
out of one kind of Presbyterianism and 
still shared the fundamental beliefs of the 
Presbyterians. They were urged in private 
by members of the Presbyterian church to 
cast in their lot with them and were led to 
believe that they would be a welcome ac- 
cession to the ranks of that church. Thomas 
Campbell, against the advice of Alexander, 
made application to the Synod of Pittsburg, 
October 4, 1810, "to be taken into Chris- 
tian and ministerial communion." He went 
before the Synod and made a full statement 






The Union With the Baptists 83 

of the plans and purposes of the Christian 
Association and of his own views on re- 
ligious subjects. After questioning him 
carefully, and deliberating on the advisa- 
bility of receiving him, the Synod decided 
that his views and the purposes of the 
Association were so baleful in their tend- 
ency and so destructive of the interests of 
religion, that they could not receive him 
into their fellowship. He made the ap- 
plication as a representative of the Associa- 
tion, so that his reception to fellowship 
would have included the entire Association. 
They did not propose to abandon the As- 
sociation with its plans and purposes, but 
to bring it over and carry on their work of 
reformation under shelter of the Presby- 
terian church. 

This rebuff received at the hands of the 
Presbyterian Synod was a serious blow to 
the hope and zeal of the Association in the 
cause of Christian union. They discovered 
that Christian union was not so simple a 



84 The Disciples of Christ 

matter as to be accomplished by offering 
to submit to the Scriptures alone. It com- 
pletely changed the course of the Associa- 
tion. From being a society for the promo- 
tion of union and reformation among the 
churches, they saw that they would be ob- 
liged to form themselves into a church or 
be deprived of the benefits and offices of 
church fellowship. The hostile attitude of 
the Presbyterian Synod, their criticisms 
upon the position and principles of the 
Association, taught them to look no further 
for sympathy among the denominations. 
A public controversy arose between the 
Presbyterians and the members of the As- 
sociation, in which Alexander Campbell 
took the leading part. 

Both of the Campbells continued to preach 
regularly at various places in and around 
Washington, to members of the Associa- 
tion and their friends who began to take 
interest in the new religious teachings. 
Criticised by other parties, they felt called 



The Union With the Baptists 85 

upon to reply, and the replies were not con- 
ducive to harmony or mutual understand- 
ing between them. The leaders of the As- 
sociation now took an aggressive attitude 
of criticism and arraignment of the secta- 
rianism and errors of the denominations, and 
challenged them to test their forms and 
terms of communion by the express pre- 
cepts and examples of the New Testament. 
A war upon the unscriptural faiths and 
practices of the churches from the stand- 
point of a severe conformity to the teach- 
ings of Scripture, began, which grew in ex- 
tent and influence until it separated them 
completely as a new party from all other 
parties. 

The time had now come for the Associa- 
tion to constitute itself into a church for 
" the enjoyment of those privileges and the 
performance of those duties which belong 
to the church relation." A church was or- 
ganized out of the members of the Associa- 
tion, May 4, 181 1, at Brush Run, Pa. Thomas 



86 The Disciples of Christ 

Campbell was appointed elder and Alexan- 
der Campbell was licensed to preach the 
gospel. Four deacons were chosen, con- 
sisting of John Dawson, George Sharpe, 
William Gilchrist, and John Foster; "and 
amidst the prayers and solemn services of the 
day, they united in singing Psalm 118, from 
the thirteenth to the twenty-ninth verses, in 
the old metrical version, which as Seceders, 
they had been in the habit of using." The 
following day being Sunday, they celebrated 
their first communion service and both Alex- 
ander Campbell and his fatherpreached. The 
Lord's supper from the first was celebrated 
every first day of the week, as had been 
done in the Independent churches in Scot- 
land. One or two persons were observed 
not to partake of the supper, and when 
asked, said they had never been immersed 
and did not consider themselves authorized 
to partake without a proper form of bap- 
tism. 
The question of baptism now came up 



The Union With the Baptists 87 

for discussion in the new church. It is not 
the first time the question has been raised 
among them for it was pointed out to them 
by James Foster, and to Alexander Camp- 
bell by a Presbyterian minister, that upon 
the principles of the Declaration and Ad- 
dress, there was no place for infant baptism 
in their practice. Joseph Bryant, one of 
those who refused to commune, insisted on 
being immersed, which was done by Thomas 
Campbell in a creek near Brush Run, July 
4, 1811. 

Alexander Campbell was engaged in 
making preaching tours, with ever widen- 
ing circuits, into the neighboring parts of 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. 
He was developing a body of Christian 
doctrines and practices under the principle, 
"Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; 
where they are silent, we are silent." He 
was ordained to the office of the ministry 
January 1, 1812, by the elders and deacons 
of the Brush Run church. He was married 



88 The Disciples of Christ 

to the daughter of a Mr. John Brown, a 
Presbyterian, by the Rev. Mr. Hughes, a 
Presbyterian minister, March 13, 181 1. Their 
first child was born March 13, 1812. The 
duty of the parents towards the child with 
respect to baptism, which was recognized 
by every Presbyterian, must have been 
raised in the home of Alexander Campbell. 
Whether this precipitated the inquiry or 
not, it is certain that immediately after the 
birth of the child, he instituted a careful 
inquiry into the scripturalness of both in- 
fant baptism and sprinkling, which up to 
this time had been treated as matters of 
forbearance. He came to the conclusion 
that the immersion of a believer was the 
only proper scriptural mode of baptism, and 
that consequently, he himself had never 
been properly baptized. He applied to a 
Baptist preacher by the name of Matthias 
Luce to perform the rite of baptism for him- 
self and wife; and when his father learned 
of his determination he also concluded to be 



The Union With the Baptists 89 

immersed, and with him his wife and 
daughter, and James Hanen and wife. At 
the place of baptism the greater part of the 
Brush Run church had assembled and 
Thomas Campbell delivered a discourse 
upon the principles of the new reformation. 
In arranging with Mr. Luce to perform the 
rite, Alexander had stipulated that no other 
condition should be required of them than 
a simple confession of their faith that Jesus 
is the Son of God. 

From the time that the group of friends 
and sympathizers of Thomas Campbell 
adopted the principle, " Where the Scrip- 
tures speak, we speak; and where they are 
silent, we are silent," the direction of the 
movement seemed to be towards the Inde- 
pendent and the Baptist position. This 
fact is singularly like the tendency of the 
new parties that arose in Scotland in the 
last years of the eighteenth century; they 
gravitated towards the position of the Inde- 
pendents and the Baptists. Within a week 



90 The Disciples of Christ 

of the immersion of the Campbells and 
their group, thirteen other members of the 
Brush Run church asked to be immersed, 
and it was done by Thomas Campbell, upon 
a simple confession of their faith in Jesus as 
the Christ, the Son of God. It was not 
long before the entire church of thirty or 
more members were immersed, for those 
who did not accept immersion withdrew 
from the church. The organization of the 
first church thus forced upon them a settle- 
ment of the terms of Christian fellowship. 
Immersion became a condition of union and 
communion with the Brush Run church. 
Its conversion into a society of immersed 
believers did not bring them any favor 
from the Pedobaptist churches of the 
region, but it did bring them into recogni- 
tion and sympathy with the Baptist 
churches. 

The Brush Run church had come to their 
position under the guidance of primitive 
Christian example and its application to 



The Union With the Baptists 91 

every item of religious faith and practice 
which they adopted in their order. They 
were not seeking agreement with any body 
of Christians. They were "a party of 
progress/' bound, they knew not where, 
but ready to go where their principles led 
them; whether into agreement with Meth- 
odists, Baptists, or Quakers of modern 
parties, they could not tell, but they felt 
into agreement with a very ancient party 
of believers, " first called Christians at 
Antioch." They were seeking "the old 
paths/' agreement with the " original stand- 
ard," "that they might come fairly and 
firmly to original ground upon clear and 
certain premises, and take up things just as 
the Apostles left them." They were feeling 
their way and making sure of their ground 
as they went. They knew of no religious 
party that stood upon original ground; 
none that dared return to the original stand- 
ard. The sense of freedom which they 
enjoyed in being bound only by the New 



92 The Disciples of Christ 

Testament with respect to all doctrines and 
usages, was equalled only by the sense of 
certainty they enjoyed in being infallibly 
guided by the New Testament to the true 
conditions of Christian union and com- 
munion. So keen was their sense of de- 
liverance from the narrowness of sectarian 
testimonies and the tyranny of sectarian 
courts, that they would never again permit 
themselves to be bound by any party or 
creed. They now breathed the free air of 
liberty. They felt the call of destiny to the 
religious world. 

When the Baptists of the region heard of 
the action of the Brush Run church in sub- 
mitting to immersion and adopting it in 
their practice, they were highly elated and 
began to urge the church to join the Baptist 
association of churches. Alexander Camp- 
bell had not been favorably impressed with 
the Baptists, either as ministers or people, 
and had no idea of uniting with them. He, 
however, liked the people better, and the 



The Union With the Baptists 93 

ministers less, the more he got acquainted 
with them. He did not press himself upon 
their attention, but they knew his power as 
a speaker and often sent for him to preach 
for them. He visited their association at 
Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in the autumn 
of 1812, and being less pleased than ever 
with the Baptists, resolved never to go 
again. The question of a union with the 
Baptists was laid before the Brush Run 
church in the fall of 181 3. u We discussed 
the propriety of the measure/' says Alex- 
ander Campbell. "After much discussion 
and earnest desire to be directed by the 
wisdom which cometh from above, we 
finally concluded to make an overture to 
that effect, and to write out a full view of 
our sentiments, wishes and determinations 
on the subject. We did so in some eight 
or ten pages of large dimensions, exhibiting 
our remonstrance against all human creeds 
as bonds of communion or union among 
Christian churches, and expressing a will- 



94 The Disciples of Christ 

ingness, upon certain conditions, to cooper- 
ate or to unite with that association, pro- 
vided always that we should be allowed to 
teach and preach whatever we learned from 
the Holy Scriptures, regardless of any 
human creed or formula in Christendom." 

The significant thing to observe in the 
terms of this union is the attitude of the 
Campbells towards their own liberty of 
teaching under the guidance of the Scrip- 
tures. They had really begun to shift the 
emphasis from the obligation of Christian 
union to the authority of primitive Chris- 
tianity. This was due to a certain loss of 
confidence in the practicability of Christian 
union under existing religious conditions, 
but more to the growing influence and lead- 
ership of Alexander Campbell, who never 
was so much of a Christian unionist as his 
father. Leadership was then passing from 
father to son, and emphasis from the princi- 
ple of unity to the principle of apostolicity. 
They were not now ready for union at the 



The Union With the Baptists 95 

cost of their liberty or any conviction. 
Truth as they were led to see it in the light of 
the Scriptures was better than any union. 
Yet union was still desirable, though not im- 
mediately practicable, and sectarianism and 
division were still sinful. They had come, 
however, to justify their separation as a dis- 
tinct party and were reconciled to it, if it 
must be. Under these circumstances and 
upon these conditions they were received 
into the Redstone Association of Baptist 
churches. But not without objection on 
the part of a few Baptist preachers who 
were either jealous or suspicious of Mr. 
Campbell. 

The Campbells were conscious that they 
were not in full agreement with the Baptists 
at the time of the union, and gave them 
full warning as to the policy and principles 
of the Brush Run church. Not even on the 
subject of baptism, which was the most ap- 
parent point of resemblance, was there en- 
tire agreement. Alexander Campbell had 



96 The Disciples of Christ 

developed a doctrine of the design of bap- 
tism by 1812 which was opposed to the 
Baptist doctrine. He had already declared 
baptism to be "the first formal and compre- 
hensive act of the obedience of faith." A 
very sacred custom in Baptist usage was the 
requirement of an examination and the rela- 
tion of an experience previous to baptism; 
but Campbell declined to accept any other 
requirement as a condition of baptism at the 
hands of Mr. Luce than a simple confession 
of faith in Christ, as he thought was done 
in apostolic times. 

The Brush Run church differed from 
Baptist churches in its practice with respect 
to the Lord's supper. It had become an 
essential part of the worship of the Brush 
Run church every first day of the week, 
while among Baptist churches it was cele- 
brated once a quarter. So essential to the 
Lord's day worship seemed the Supper that 
Thomas Campbell declared as early as 1812 
that "instituted worship can be nowhere 



The Union With the Baptists 97 

performed upon the Lord's day, where the 
Lord's supper is not administered. Wher- 
ever this is neglected, there New Testament 
worship ceases. " The Brush Run church 
inclined at first to adopt the custom of close 
communion, and admit only immersed be- 
lievers, but did not settle into the practice. 

The Campbells held another doctrine 
which was soon to become the cause of the 
first and of a continuous controversy be- 
tween them and the Baptists. They taught 
that there was a difference in the authority 
of the Old and New Testaments for the 
Christian. Thomas Campbell had drawn 
the distinction in 1809 in the Declaration 
and Address by declaring that "the New 
Testament is as perfect a constitution for 
the worship, discipline and government of 
the New Testament church," "as the Old 
Testament was for the worship, discipline 
and government of the Old Testament 
church"; and again in 1812: u How many 
disciples of Moses are to be found in the 



98 The Disciples of Christ 

professed school of Jesus Christ! and how 
few among the teachers of the New Testa- 
ment seem to know that Christ's ministers 
are not able ministers of the Old Testament 
but of the New." To a Baptist of that time 
every part of the Scriptures was equally 
authoritative. 

Their view of the meaning and value of 
ordination differed. While Alexander 
Campbell submitted to the ceremony, it was 
not regarded as indispensable to the minis- 
terial character and office. It was pointed 
out that many in the New Testament were 
said to have preached and baptized, yet 
there is no record of their ordination. The 
Baptists insisted on it as essential to the ex- 
ercise of the ministerial function. 

The most serious departure of the Camp- 
bells from a Baptist point of view was in 
their conception of faith. They held to the 
orthodox, Calvinistic conception of faith, as 
"of the operation of God and effect of al- 
mighty power and regenerating grace," as 



The Union With the Baptists 99 

late as 1812; but in the same year their con- 
ception underwent a change and they de- 
clared that " the word of God is a means of 
regeneration " and that faith is " the full and 
firm persuasion, or hearty belief of the 
divine testimony concerning Jesus." 

It is not probable that all these views held 
by the Campbells at the time of the union 
were known to the Baptists of the Redstone 
Association. They were glad to have their 
forces strengthened and their ranks filled 
by the accession of the Campbells and the 
Brush Run church, and were not disposed 
to lay down rigid conditions of fellowship. 
Accepted as a member of the Redstone 
Association, the Brush Run church was 
entitled to send messengers to the annual 
meetings and have a voice in all of its 
affairs. 



CHAPTER VI 

ALEXANDER CAMPBELL AS A BAPTIST 

The union of the Campbells with the 
Baptists conditioned the course of their 
movement for the next twenty years. It 
opened a sphere of influence and activity 
to Alexander Campbell, now the acknowl- 
edged leader, which made possible the 
wider and more rapid dissemination of 
his views. It drew the attention and 
opened the ears of the entire Baptist 
brotherhood, then the numerically strongest 
denomination in America, to the new teach- 
ings. Without this affiliation with the 
Baptists all church doors would have been 
closed to him, and the progress of "the 
reformation " would have been in the teeth 
of the bitterest opposition and sectarian 
hatred. At one stroke he secured a great 
audience of friendly listeners, 
ioo 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 101 

To all intents and purposes Campbell be- 
came a Baptist and deliberately and frankly 
accepted the denominational status which 
it gave him. The Brush Run church was 
lost in the larger fellowship of Baptist 
churches, and assumed with all others its 
part in the extension of Baptist views and 
influence. Campbell's first active interest 
in the Baptist cause was to offer his services 
for the purpose of raising money among 
the Baptist churches of the East to build a 
meeting house at Charlestown, Virginia. 
It was to provide a church home for his 
father-in-law's family, who had taken 
membership in the Brush Run church 
and was contemplating removal to Charles- 
town, where he had already established 
himself in business. He visited such cities 
as Philadelphia, New York, and Washing- 
ton, preaching and raising money in Bap- 
tist churches, and returned with a thousand 
dollars with which a church was built. 

At the meeting of the Redstone Associa- 



102 The Disciples of Christ 

tion, August 30, 1816, Alexander Campbell 
was present as one of the three messengers 
from the Brush Run church. In spite of 
opposition on the part of a few preachers, 
the demand of the people to hear him was 
so strong that they were obliged to give 
him a place on the program. He preached 
a sermon which afterwards became famous 
as the Sermon on the Law, and was the 
beginning of open opposition to him in the 
Redstone Association, and the cause of 
frequent charges of heresy against him 
in other Baptist associations. The subject 
of the discourse was the view adopted by 
him in 1812 that the law of Moses is not 
binding upon the Christian church, and 
that the preaching of the gospel is the all- 
sufficient means of conversion. The prin- 
ciple that the Old Testament with its au- 
thority, laws, and ordinances had been ab- 
rogated in Christ, was not with him a mere 
theological speculation, but of practical 
utility. It was this practical, far-reaching 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 103 

scope of the doctrine, as intimated in a 
closing section of the sermon, which 
alarmed the Baptists. He said: " A fourth 
conclusion which is deducible from the 
above premises is, that all arguments or 
motives drawn from the lav/, or Old Testa- 
ment, to urge the disciples of Christ to bap- 
tize their infants; to pay tithes to their 
teachers; to observe holy days or religious 
fasts, as preparatory to the observance of 
the Lord's supper; to sanctify the seventh 
day; to enter into national covenants; to 
establish any form of religion by civil law — 
and all reasons or motives borrowed from 
the Jewish law, to excite the disciples of 
Christ to a compliance with or imitation of 
Jewish customs, are inconclusive, repugnant 
to Christianity, and fall ineffectual to the 
ground; not being enjoined or counte- 
nanced by Jesus Christ/' 

This was novel doctrine, not only to the 
audience before him, but to most Christian 
communities of the time. It was not new, 



104 The Disciples of Christ 

however, to theologians, for it had appeared 
in the writings of the "Federal School" of 
theology, of which the Dutchman, Cocceius, 
was the reputed founder. The mind of 
Campbell seems to have been thoroughly 
saturated with the covenant ideas of this 
school. Some of the preachers present at 
the delivery of the discourse took alarm be- 
fore it was finished and held a hurried con- 
sultation as to the best means of protest 
against it. It was finally decided that it 
was " better to let it pass and let the people 
judge for themselves." Opposition, how- 
ever, did not rest here. A movement was 
quietly set on foot at this meeting with the 
avowed purpose of counteracting the influ- 
ence of the Campbells and ridding the 
Association of them. At this same meet- 
ing Thomas Campbell, who lived in Pitts- 
burg, brought a letter from a small church, 
which he had gathered together there, ask- 
ing union as a church with the Association. 
It was voted, "that as this letter is not 



Alexander Campbell as a Bapti : 105 

presented according to the constitut on of 
this Association, the request cannot be 
granted." A "Circular Letter," or essay 
upon the "Trinity," presented by Thomas 
Campbell, met with a better reception, 
having been "accepted without amend- 
ment." 

Alexander Campbell was engaged for the 
most part during the years from 18 13 to 
1820 in managing his farm, given to him by 
his father-in-law; conducting a seminary 
chiefly for young men at his home, called 
"Buffalo Seminary," at Bethany, West 
Virginia; and making preaching tours 
among Baptist churches in the neigh- 
boring regions. After the preaching of 
the Sermon on the Law, and on account 
of the suspicion and enmity arising out of 
it, his preaching among Baptist churches 
was somewhat restricted. He says: " Till 
this time we had labored much among the 
Baptists with good effect." "1 itinerated 
less than before in my labors in the gospel 



106 The Disciples of Christ 

and c mfined my attention to three or four 
little i ommunities constituted on the Bible, 
one in Ohio, one in Virginia, and two in 
Pennsylvania. Once or twice a year I made 
excursions amongst the regular Baptists, 
but with little hope of being useful to the 
Redstone Association. " 

[While Alexander Campbell was a Baptist 
in all essential respects, as he viewed it, yet 
he was not so thoroughly denomination- 
alized that he could not be free in his atti- 
tude towards their beliefs and practices. 
The attitude of the Baptists towards him 
varied; some received him, others rejected 
him. But there was no doubt among Bap- 
tists that upon the mode of baptism, he stood 
upon their ground. He was chosen out of all 
defenders of the Baptist faith in that region 
to represent and champion the Baptist cause 
in a debate with a Presbyterian minister by 
the name of John Walker, of Mount Pleasant, 
Ohio. Mr. Walker challenged Mr. Birch, or 
any other Baptist, to debate the question of 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 107 

baptism, and engaged to prove, "That 
baptism came in the room of circumcision; 
that the covenant on which the Jewish 
church was built, and to which circumcision 
was a seal, is the same with the covenant 
on which the Christian church is built, and 
to which baptism is the seal; that the Jews 
and Christians are the same body politic 
under the same lawgiver and husband, 
consequently the infants of believers have a 
right to baptism." Mr. Birch had some 
difficulty in persuading Campbell to enter 
the debate, on account of his doubt of the 
utility of it in promoting the truth or the 
unity of Christians. He finally consented, 
and the debate was held June 19-20, 1820, 
at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, twenty-three miles 
from Mr. Campbell's home. Mr. Walker 
based his argument for infant baptism upon 
the identity of the Jewish and Christian 
covenants, and upon the equal authority of 
the Old and New Testaments. Mr. Camp- 
bell entertained the contrary view which 



io8 The Disciples of Christ 

appeared in his Sermon on the Law. In the 
baptismal controversy of the times as usually 
carried on between Baptists and Pedobap- 
tists, they stood on the same ground in a 
common recognition of the authority of the 
Old Covenant. It was something new and 
startling to Mr. Walker, when Campbell 
cut the Gordian knot at a stroke by assum- 
ing the complete annulment of the Old 
Covenant in the death of Christ. The de- 
bate reduced itself to a discussion of the 
authority or validity of the Jewish Cove- 
nant in the Christian church. 

Another novelty in the way of an argu- 
ment against infant baptism introduced by 
Mr. Campbell in the debate was his view of 
the design of baptism. The argument is 
scarcely more than suggested in the follow- 
ing words : " Baptism is connected with the 
promise of the remission of sins and the 
gift of the Holy Spirit." The doctrine was 
subsequently to play a large part in the de- 
bates of Campbell, in the controversy with 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 109 

the Baptists, and in the evangelistic preach- 
ing of the Disciples. 

The opportunities and issues of the debate 
were such as to convince Campbell that "a 
week's debating is worth a year's preach- 
ing," and to dispose him so favorably to the 
debate as a means of disseminating truth, 
that he issued a challenge at the close "to 
meet any Pedobaptist minister of any de- 
nomination and prove that Infant Sprinkling 
is a human tradition and injurious to the 
well-being of society, religious and polit- 
ical." The debate was printed and circu- 
lated very widely among the Baptists, who 
felt that they had the best of the argument, 
and extended the influence and fame of 
Campbell beyond the reach of his living 
voice. While some Baptists "remained 
extremely dubious in regard to the ortho- 
doxy of their champion," others took grate- 
ful pride in him, and felt as one Baptist de- 
clared, that "he had done more for the 
Baptists than any man in the West." 



no The Disciples of Christ 

In the printing and circulation of the de- 
bate, which was frequently heard from at a 
distance, Campbell discovered the power 
and usefulness of the press. He determined 
to make larger use of it as a means of get- 
ting his teachings before the Baptist world 
especially. He felt that the Baptists offered 
the best opportunity for reformatory work 
upon biblical principles because " they read 
the Bible and seemed to care for little else in 
religion than ! conversion ' and ' Bible doc- 
trine.' " He wrote in 1824 as follows: 
"There is one vast difference, one essential 
and all-important difference betwixt the 
Baptist and Pedobaptist views and societies. 
The Baptist views of the Church of Jesus 
Christ are constitutionally correct; the Pedo- 
baptist views are unconstitutional." "The 
Baptist system is capable of being reformed 
or brought back again to the constitution of 
the kingdom of heaven; the Pedobaptist 
cannot." 

While he believed that "the Baptist 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 1 1 i 

society had as much liberality in their views, 
as much of the ancient simplicity of the 
Christian religion, as much of the spirit of 
Christianity among them, as was to be 
found amongst other people "; yet he also 
believed that " there was in the views and 
practices of this large and widely extended 
community, as great need of reformation, 
and of a restoration of the ancient order of 
things,'' "as of any sect in Christendom." 
To extend more widely and promote more 
rapidly among the Baptists and all Protestant 
denominations his reformatory teachings, he 
established in 1823 a monthly periodical 
which he called the Christian Baptist. He 
announced in the prospectus that its sole 
object should be "the eviction of truth, and 
the exposure of error in doctrine and prac- 
tice. The editor, acknowledging no stand- 
ard of religious faith or works other than 
the Old and New Testaments, and the latter 
as the only standard of the religion of Jesus 
Christ, will, intentionally at least, oppose 



112 The Disciples of Christ 

nothing which it contains, and recommend 
nothing which it does not enjoin." He 
dedicated the work "to all those without 
distinction, who acknowledge the Scriptures 
of the Old and New Testaments to be a true 
revelation from God, and the New Testa- 
ment as containing the religion of Jesus 
Christ; who, willing to have all religious 
tenets and practices tried by the Divine 
Word; and who, feeling themselves in 
duty bound to search the Scriptures for 
themselves in all matters of religion — are 
disposed to reject all doctrine and com- 
mandments of men, and to obey the truth, 
holding fast the faith once delivered to the 
saints.' 

The notable thing to be observed in this 
program of action is the absence of all 
reference to Christian union. The em- 
phasis now rests upon the principle of 
scriptural authority and primitive precept 
and example. The watchword is now ref- 
ormation not union. The principle of unity 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 1 13 

has been subordinated to the principle of 
apostolicity. Even the union of the Brush 
Run church with the Baptist association 
was quite as much an expression of devo- 
tion to apostolicity as of desire for unity. 
They made no concession for the sake of 
the union. The union of the people of 
God had become a hopeless task and must 
be postponed until their faith and practice 
had been squared with the Divine Stand- 
ard. He did not doubt the validity or 
the correctness of his method of procedure 
or his principle of adjustment. Primitive 
Christianity which was put forth in the 
Declaration and Address as a principle 
of unity, but left undefined and uncertain, 
had been undergoing a progressive defini- 
tion in the terms of a local Christian fellow- 
ship in the Brush Run church, and was 
now to be given still more careful definition 
and settlement in application to Baptist faith 
and practice. The results of that definition 
were the gradual separation and alienation 



114 The Disciples of Christ 

of the Christian Association, first from 
Pedobaptist churches and finally from 
Baptist churches. The more they learned 
from the Scriptures as to the terms of Chris- 
tian union and communion, the more diffi- 
cult it was to enter into union or to main- 
tain union with existing religious bodies. 
They defined the essential elements of 
primitive Christianity in the direction of a 
growing separatism. It proved to be a 
principle of exclusion and division, rather 
than a principle of comprehension and 
union. The series of articles in the pages 
of the Christian Baptist on "The Ancient 
Order of Things," completed and fixed the 
definition of Christianity for those who at- 
tached themselves to "the new reforma- 
tion." The essential elements of primitive 
Christianity were made to consist in "an 
order of things." They were very careful 
of the way they did things in the public 
worship, in the celebration and administra- 
tion of the ordinances, in the organization 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist l J 5 

of local churches, and in the propaga- 
tion of the gospel. In many instances it 
came very near being a tithing of mint, 
anise, and cummin, and a neglecting of the 
weightier matters of the law. Christianity 
was defined, the terms of Christian com- 
munion were fixed, according to the letter 
of Scripture, and the result was a legalistic 
formalism. The extreme literalism of the 
teaching of this first period was sure to 
produce a reaction and to create two parties 
within the movement, the literal and the 
spiritual. Campbell himself and the larger 
part of the body recoiled from this early 
position in the direction of a more spiritual 
interpretation of Christianity. The two 
parties have survived to the present time in 
the body, with varying degrees of coopera- 
tion or strife. 

Scarcely three numbers of the Christian 
Baptist had appeared from the press before 
Alexander Campbell was called upon to 
engage in a debate with a Presbyterian 



li6 The Disciples of Christ 

preacher of Kentucky. It grew out of the 
previous debate with Mr. Walker. Camp- 
bell's challenge at the close of that debate 
was accepted by the Rev. W. L. Maccalla, 
of Washington, Kentucky. He felt that 
the strongest word for infant baptism on 
the ground of the identity of the Jewish 
and Christian covenants, had not been 
spoken by Mr. Walker. The debate cov- 
ered the same ground and dealt with the 
same arguments and counter-arguments as 
in the previous debate. It was an arrayal 
of the Baptist against the Pedobaptist po- 
sition. On this occasion, as on the former, 
Campbell went as the representative and 
champion of the Baptist cause, and was re- 
ceived into Baptist churches and homes 
everywhere throughout Kentucky. He 
brought with him copies of the Christian 
Baptist which he gave to the Baptist 
preachers present, warning them in the 
meantime that he had quite as much 
against the Baptists as against the Presby- 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 1 17 

terians. In this debate he developed at 
greater length his doctrine of the design of 
baptism as an argument against infant bap- 
tism and said: "The water of baptism, 
then, formally washes away our sins. The 
blood of Christ really washes away our 
,sins. Paul's sins were really pardoned 
when he believed. Yet he had no solemn 
pledge of the fact, no formal acquittal, no 
formal purgation of his sins until he washed 
them away in the water of baptism. " 
" One argument from this topic is that bap- 
tism being ordained to be to a believer, a 
formal and personal remission of all his 
sins, cannot be administered to an infant 
without the greatest perversion and abuse 
of the nature and import of this ordinance. 
Indeed, why should an infant that never 
sinned ... be baptized for the remission 
of sins?" Feeling that this doctrine was 
new to both Baptists and Presbyterians, he 
said: " My Baptist brethren, as well as the 
Pedobaptist's brotherhood, I humbly con- 



ll8 The Disciples of Christ 

ceive, require to be admonished on this 
point. You have been, some of you no 
doubt, too diffident in asserting this grand 
import of baptism." 

True to his promise made in the prospec- 
tus of the Christian Baptist, in the very first 
numbers he began a crusade against the 
errors in doctrine and practice of all the de- 
nominations, the Baptists in particular. His 
program was, first, the destruction of false 
doctrines and erroneous practices in the de- 
nominations that acknowledged allegiance 
to the Scriptures, and the reduction of their 
systems to a common agreement, and then 
would inevitably follow a union of Chris- 
tians. As expressed by a writer in the 
Christian Baptist: "To attempt union 
among jarring sects which are established 
upon different foundations, without the ex- 
plosion of their foundations, is altogether 
fruitless." The work of undermining and 
blowing up the foundations of other people's 
houses is not a very cordial way of ap- 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 1 19 

proaching them, nor likely to be a very suc- 
cessful way of winning their sympathy. 
There was not a custom, or doctrine, or 
ceremony maintained by any denomination, 
which was not tried and tested, squared and 
measured, by a severely literal application of 
the text of Scripture. As a consequence 
there were very few denominational prac- 
tices for which Campbell found any scriptural 
authority. The Scriptures nowhere spoke 
of " missionary societies/' " Bible societies," 
"associations," "synods," "presbyteries," 
"creeds," "confessions of faith," "clergy- 
men," "bishops," "reverends," "doctors of 
divinity," and a multitude of other innova- 
tions in use in modern Christian society, con- 
sequently they should have no place in the 
church of to-day. He cast them all out 
upon the ecclesiastical scrap pile. No mat- 
ter if in the general renovation and house- 
cleaning some useful and valuable things 
were thrown out — the work must be 
thoroughly and finally done. He was 



120 The Disciples of Christ 

cautioned by Robert Semple, the most emi- 
nent Baptist of the time, that there was 
danger of " running past Jerusalem as one 
hastens out of Babylon"; but he replied: 
"We are convinced, that the whole head is 
sick, and the whole heart faint of modern 
fashionable Christianity — that many of the 
schemes of the populars resemble the de- 
lirium, the wild fancies of a subject of fever, 
in its highest paroxysms — and that these 
most fashionable projects deserve no more 
regard from sober Christians, Christians in- 
telligent in the New Testament, than the 
vagaries, the febrile flights, of patients in an 
inflammatory fever." He spoke this of 
Bible societies, but he included all other 
agencies for the spread of the gospel which 
were without the sanction of apostolic ex- 
ample. 

He was moved with the spirit of the most 
furious iconoclasm. Nothing escaped his 
sarcasm and invective, in the use of which 
he was an adept. He cared little whether 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 1 2 1 

his remedy hurt or not; the disease was 
malignant, the remedy must be severe. As 
a consequence, Campbell did not get him- 
self well liked by everybody. One man 
wrote in 1823: " I request you to send me 
the Christian Baptist no more, my con- 
science is wounded that I should have sub- 
scribed for such a work. It is a religious 
incendiary and will do a world of mischief." 
Another wrote: "Your paper is a disor- 
ganizer and I doubt not will prove deistical 
in the end." After sending the paper for 
some time to the reading rooms of a society 
at Hamilton Seminary at the request of the 
students, they wrote saying: "For reasons 
which we are willing frankly to avow, our 
society has recently come to the resolution 
to ask you to discontinue your publication." 
Spencer Clack, a Baptist minister, wrote to 
Campbell from Kentucky saying: "Some 
are for you, others against you; some ap- 
prove, others censure and condemn; such 
is the state of affairs; such the effect pro- 



122 The Disciples of Christ 

duced by your writing. But let me ask, 
what is the great good which such division 
will achieve?" Campbell was denounced 
in public and in private by the Baptists as a 
" Unitarian," "a Socinian," an " Antino- 
mian," " a Pelagian," and "a Deist"; and 
where that did not succeed in stirring up 
prejudice, they said, "he stole a horse," 
"was excommunicated for drunkenness," 
and "married his first wife's sister." He 
had put out in 1826 a revised edition of the 
New Testament, translated by Campbell, 
Doddridge and McKnight, and so bitter was 
the prejudice awakened against it that one 
man solemnly consigned a copy of it to the 
flames. 

It was a serious question in the minds of 
many Baptists whether they could consci- 
entiously include Campbell in their fellow- 
ship, or whether he could consistently and 
honestly call himself a Baptist. Concern- 
ing this he wrote in the Christian Baptist in 
1826 as follows: "I and the church with 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 123 

which I am connected are in ' full com- 
munion' with the Mahoning Baptist As- 
sociation of Ohio; and through them with 
the whole Baptist society in the United 
States; and I do intend to continue in con- 
nection with this people so long as they 
will permit me to say what I believe, to 
teach what I am assured of, and to censure 
what is amiss in their views and practices." 
When charged with inconsistency in claim- 
ing "full fellowship with the whole Baptist 
society " and yet censuring many of their 
views and practices, he said: "But what 
constitutes consistency? In acting con- 
formably to our own professed senti- 
ments and principles; or in acting con- 
formably to the professed sentiments and 
principles of others?" He was ready to 
hold Christian communion with any per- 
son or group of persons who confessed 
that Jesus was the Christ, and was bap- 
tized as a testimony to it, and lived a blame- 
less Christian life. Nothing more and noth- 



124 The Disciples of Christ 

ing less than this should constitute the con- 
ditions of Christian fellowship. On these 
terms he received all Baptists into fellow- 
ship. The difficulty was not on his side 
but on their side. They fulfilled all his re- 
quirements for communion, but he did not 
fulfill all their requirements. It was just 
this more-than-enough for simple Christian 
fellowship in Baptist requirements, such as 
the relation of an experience and subscrip- 
tion to a creed, with which he quarrelled. 
He refused to regard communion with a 
religious body as implying "an entire ap- 
probation of all their views, doctrines and 
practice, as a society or individuals." His 
principle was that " unity of opinion is not 
essential to Christian union." 

It was still an unsettled question with 
him in 1825 whether immersion should be 
made a test of fellowship among Christians. 
He said: " I frankly own that my full con- 
viction is that there are many Pedobaptist 
congregations, of whose Christianity I think 



Alexander Campbell as a Baptist 125 

as highly as of most Baptist congregations, 
and with whom I could wish to be on the 
very same terms of Christian communion 
on which I stand with the whole Baptist 
society." He thought that there were as 
good scriptural grounds for Baptists and 
Pedobaptists to eat the Lord's supper to- 
gether as to have fellowship in other acts 
of social worship. He was not ready, 
however, to go the full length of receiv- 
ing the unimmersed into fellowship. Per- 
sonally he would receive them, but he 
could not make his own personal disposi- 
tion a law for the entire Christian brother- 
hood. He finally settled into the practice 
of making immersion a test of fellowship 
in the local congregation, but not a prereq- 
uisite to partaking of the Lord's supper. 
In this he broke with the Baptist custom of 
close communion, and settled the practice 
for all reforming Baptist churches. 

The Christian Baptist grew rapidly in 
circulation, especially among Baptists, and 



126 The Disciples of Christ 

contributed in no small measure, together 
with his published debates and preaching 
tours through all parts of the country, in 
creating a rapidly increasing party in the 
Baptist denomination which was called 
"Reformers" or "reforming Baptists," 
and otherwise stigmatized as "Camp- 
bellites"or "Restorationers." 



CHAPTER VII 

THE REFORMERS AMONG THE BAPTISTS 

There can be no doubt that Campbell had 
designs with reference to the Baptist de- 
nomination, and that he had reasons for 
gratification at the increasing success of his 
propaganda. There appeared from time to 
time in the columns of the Christian Baptist 
reports of the progress of "the reforma- 
tion " that were characterized by a note of 
calm assurance and certainty of triumph. 
He felt that the Baptists were not living up 
to their principles and that he was confer- 
ring a favor upon them by calling their at- 
tention to primitive Christian customs in 
which they were lacking or from which 
they were going astray. He felt himself to 
be their best friend, and that "every well- 
meant effort to bring them up to the primi- 
tive state of the church, as far as Scripture 
127 



128 The Disciples of Christ 

and reason approbate, ought to be counte- 
nanced, aided and abetted by every one that 
loves the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
Just here was his advantage and the secret 
of his success among them, that he stood on 
their ground and was in agreement with 
them on essential and distinctive Baptist 
principles. Spencer Clack wrote to him in 
1827, saying: " Observe, between you and 
your Baptist brethren, there is no difference 
of opinion as to rule of faith and practice. 
On this subject we all speak the same 
language; we all acknowledge the same 
authority; all profess to be governed by it. 
What then, is the difference between us ? 
Simply this: we cannot agree as to what 
the Bible teaches. The Baptists think the 
Bible teaches the doctrine contained in their 
creeds; you think it teaches what you have 
written and published, and what you will 
hereafter write and publish." Campbell 
was holding up Baptist faith and practice to 
a strict conformity to apostolic example, 



Reformers Among the Baptists 129 

and assumed as an underlying presupposi- 
tion that the New Testament contained a 
perfect and complete model of the Christian 
institution, in faith, life, ordinances, or- 
ganization and discipline. 

He easily persuaded many ministers and 
laymen among them that his view of the 
matter was correct. His reformatory teach- 
ing first found acceptance in the minds of a 
few ministers who became centres of agita- 
tion in Baptist churches and associations. 
One of the earliest, and typical of all the 
rest, was P. S. Fall, the young pastor of the 
church at Louisville, Kentucky, who first 
made the acquaintance of Campbell's views 
by reading the Christian Baptist and the 
Sermon on the Law. He began to preach 
the new doctrines in his Louisville church. 
Alexander Campbell came to Louisville in 
1824 and under the direction of Mr. Fall, 
made several addresses in the Baptist and 
Presbyterian churches. So completely was 
the Baptist church imbued with his ideas 



130 The Disciples of Christ 

that they repudiated their constitution and 
creed and adopted the Bible as their only 
rule of faith and practice and introduced the 
" ancient order of things " into the organiza- 
tion and worship of the church. At the 
meeting of the Long Run Association, of 
which the church was a member, Septem- 
ber, 1825, Mr. Fall read the " circular letter" 
in which he maintained that "the word of 
God was the only sufficient and perfect rule 
of faith and practice," against the use of 
creeds, as was then customary in Baptist 
churches. The church sent the following 
queries to the Association for answer: 
"1. Is there any authority in the New 
Testament for religious bodies to make hu- 
man creeds and confessions of faith the 
constitutions or directories of such bodies in 
matters of faith and practice?" "2. Is 
there any authority in the New Testament 
for associations ? If so, what is it ? If not, 
why are they held?" Similar queries, 
showing the leavening influence of Camp- 



Reformers Among the Baptists 131 

bell's ideas, were sent by the churches at 
Elk Creek and Shelbyville. By such queries 
the ideas of Campbell were forced upon the 
attention of entire associations representing 
many ministers and churches. The letter 
read by Fall was rejected by the casting 
vote of the moderator, Geo. Waller, so 
evenly was the Association divided. A 
strict Baptist element in the church at 
Louisville resisted the introduction of the 
" ancient order," and in 1829, at a 
stormy meeting, the leader seized the 
books of the church and cried out, 
"All who are for the old constitution 
follow me." About thirty persons with- 
drew and formed a new church. Two 
Baptist congregations were thus formed, 
the one called "Campbellites," the other 
" Wallerites." A lawsuit over the posses- 
sion of the property took place in which the 
Reformers were victorious, though both 
parties continued to meet in the church at 
different hours. They retained the name of 



132 The Disciples of Christ 

" First Baptist Church of Jesus Christ " and 
membership in the Long Run Association 
until 1833, when they assumed the name 
"Church of Christ." After leaving Louis- 
ville, Mr. Fall preached for a time for the 
Baptist church at Frankfort, where he laid 
the foundation of a "Reformed Baptist" 
church, and later became pastor of the 
Baptist church of Nashville, Tennessee. It 
was not long before this church introduced 
the "ancient order," and refused to become 
a member of the Concord Association of 
Baptist churches, unless given perfect free- 
dom with respect to the doctrine and 
government of the church. When the 
separation of the Reformers from the Bap- 
tists took place, this church stood solidly 
with the new reformation. Campbell came 
to Nashville in 1826 for the benefit of his 
wife's health and spent several weeks, dur- 
ing which he delivered many sermons and 
addresses. 
John Smith was another Baptist minister 



Reformers Among the Baptists 133 

of Kentucky who accepted the teachings 
of Campbell and was instrumental in in- 
doctrinating many Baptist churches and 
forming new ones upon "the New Testa- 
ment basis." Though he had heard much 
of Alexander Campbell, both for and against 
him, and had read the Christian Baptist and 
his debates, he first met him in 1824. By 
private conversation and public discourses 
Campbell removed many religious difficult- 
ies from his mind, and after a year of care- 
ful study of the Bible he "commenced the 
advocacy of the Bible as a sufficient rule of 
faith and practice." In his preaching he 
was distinguished by the keenness of his 
logic, the quaintness of his wit and humor, 
and the earnestness and fervor of his spirit. 
He was by all odds the most popular and 
successful of Baptist preachers with the 
common people. He had little or no school 
training, but was gifted by nature with 
mother wit and human sympathy as few 
men are. He worked his way up from 



134 The Disciples of Christ 

youth through the bitterest hardships, gave 
himself to the ministry in the Baptist church, 
and had thought his way out of the contra- 
dictions and blighting spiritual influences of 
hyper-Calvinism, when he began to read the 
writings of Campbell. He had felt the prac- 
tical difficulty of preaching to sinners the 
doctrine of their utter depravity and moral 
helplessness without the aid of the Spirit, 
and then calling upon them to repent and 
believe the gospel on pain of eternal dam- 
nation. It was a moment of deliverance 
from bondage when his mind swung free 
from Calvinistic fatalism under the teaching 
of the New Testament as unfolded by 
Campbell in the Christian Baptist. The 
doctrine that it was in the power of every 
sinner to believe that Jesus was the Christ, 
the Son of God, upon the testimony given 
in the Scriptures concerning him, and that 
this was saving faith, became the founda- 
tion of a new career of evangelism which 
he inaugurated in 1825. He went every- 



Reformers Among the Baptists 135 

where among Baptist churches in Kentucky 
calling on sinners to repent at once and be- 
lieve in Jesus Christ, and be immersed for 
the remission of sins. The regions of his 
evangelistic activity were for the most part 
the boundaries of two or three Baptist as- 
sociations — the North District, Bracken, and 
Boone's Creek. The greater part of his 
preaching had been done in four churches of 
the North District Association. One of these 
was the church at Lulbegrud, which at the 
meeting of the Association in 1827 presented 
charges against certain preachers who had de- 
parted from Baptist usage. They were aimed 
at Smith, who had been unwearied in preach- 
ing and baptizing people after "the ancient 
order of things." Crowds of people came to 
hear him and he baptized them by the score, 
sometimes constituting new churches out 
of the number, which took their places as 
members of some Baptist association. He 
was quite as zealous, however, against the 
old order as he was in favor of the new 



136 The Disciples of Christ 

order. He said to his wife, as he was 
summing up the results of a few months' 
work in 1828: " Nancy, I have baptised 
seven hundred sinners and capsized fifteen 
hundred Baptists." He was so successful 
in the latter activity among the Baptists of 
the North District Association that out of 
twenty-six churches composing it, eighteen 
stood on the side of the reformation when 
the division came. As an illustration of his 
dramatic and convincing methods, the fol- 
lowing incident is related concerning him: 
A methodist minister had been seen to bap- 
tize a struggling, crying infant in the place 
where he was holding a meeting. The 
next day when Smith was baptizing some 
persons in a stream, he saw the minister in 
the crowd. He walked up and seized him 
by the arm and drew him towards the water 
— ' ' What are you going to do, Mr. Smith ? " 
said the preacher. "I am going to baptize 
you, sir." " But I do not wish to be bap- 
tized. " ' ' Do you not believe ? " said Smith. 



Reformers Among the Baptists 137 

" Certainly I do." "Then come along, sir, 
believers must be baptized." "But I am 
not willing to go," said the Methodist. " It 
certainly would do me no good to be bap- 
tized against my will." "Did you not, but 
yesterday, baptize a helpless babe against 
its will?" Turning to the audience Smith 
said: " But friends, let me know if he ever 
again baptizes others without their full con- 
sent; for you yourselves have heard him de- 
clare that such a baptism cannot possibly 
do any good." 

In the districts covered by his preaching 
were many churches of the "New Lights" 
or "Stoneites," the followers of Barton W. 
Stone, whose acquaintance and friendship 
he was zealous in cultivating, much to the 
scandal of his Baptist brethren. He was 
later to be one of the most diligent and 
successful promoters of the union be- 
tween the "Disciples" and "Christians" 
or "Stoneites " in Kentucky. 

There were many other able and influ- 



138 The Disciples of Christ 

ential Baptist preachers in Kentucky who 
gave themselves to the dissemination of 
Campbell's views, such as Jeremiah Varde- 
man, who was said to have baptized more 
persons than any other preacher in Ken- 
tucky; Jacob Creath, Sr., who was pro- 
nounced by Henry Clay to be "the finest 
natural orator " he had ever heard; J. T. 
Johnson, who was educated for a lawyer, 
but became a preacher, converted hundreds 
of persons in protracted meetings, in many 
of the central and southern states, and was 
active in promoting the union between the 
followers of Stone and Campbell. 

The most rapid and sweeping success of 
the new reformation took place in the Bap-* 
tist churches of the Mahoning Association 
in eastern Ohio, near Mr. Campbell's home. 
From the time of the preaching of the Ser- 
mon on the Law in 18 16 before the Redstone 
Association, the enemies of Campbell were 
industriously working against him and 
planning to oust him as soon as they could 



Reformers Among the Baptists 139 

command a majority of the messengers of 
the Association. This did not seem immi- 
nent until 1823; and to defeat their plans, 
Campbell asked for letters for himself and 
wife and thirty others from the Brush Run 
church to form a new church in Charles- 
town or Wellsburg, as it began to be called. 
He had made the acquaintance of several 
preachers of the Mahoning Association, 
who had frequently urged him to be pres- 
ent at its meetings. The members of this 
Association were more favorably disposed 
towards him, were less rigidly bound by 
creeds and Baptist usages, and gladly wel- 
comed the new church at Wellsburg into 
its fellowship. The preachers of the Asso- 
ciation who came under the influence of 
Campbell, were Adamson Bentley, Sidney 
Rigdon, Jacob Osborne, Joseph Freeman, 
Marcus Bosworth, and others. They had 
carried on the work of reformation among 
the churches before Alexander Campbell 
appeared among them as a delegate from 



140 The Disciples of Christ 

the Wellsburg church in 1825. At the 
meeting of the Association in 1824 the fol- 
lowing questions were presented from the 
church at Nelson: " 1. Will this Associa- 
tion hold in its connection a church which 
acknowledges no other rule of faith and 
practice than the Scriptures?" "2. In 
what manner were members received into 
the churches that were set in order by the 
apostles?" "3. How were members ex- 
cluded from those churches ? " These ques- 
tions indicate that the Christian Baptist 
had been circulating among the churches. 
Questions presented from other churches 
bore the same import. The church at Nel- 
son passed a resolution in 1824, "to remove 
the Philadelphia Confession of Faith and 
the church articles, and to take the word of 
God for their rule of faith and practice." 
A minority objected and organized another 
church, and both churches sent messengers 
to the Association the next year. 
At the meeting of the Association in 



Reformers Among the Baptists 141 

August, 1827, at New Lisbon, Ohio, the fol- 
lowing petition was presented from the 
Braceville church: "We wish that this 
Association may take into serious consider- 
ation the peculiar situation of the churches 
of the Association, and if it would be a pos- 
sible thing for an evangelical preacher to be 
employed to travel and teach among the 
churches, we think that a blessing would 
follow. " The suggestion met with the ap- 
proval of the members and Walter Scott of 
Steubenville, Ohio, was appointed as evan- 
gelist. Alexander Campbell had gone by 
way of Scott's home and had brought him 
to the meeting. The importance of the 
career and influence of this man upon the 
character of the movement is second only 
to that of Campbell himself. The creators 
and leaders of the movement are usually 
listed as follows: Thomas Campbell, Alex- 
ander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and 
Walter Scott. The latter was born in Scot- 
land in 1796; was educated at the University 



142 The Disciples of Christ 

of Edinburgh; came to America in 1818, and 
settled in Pittsburg. Through the influence 
of a Mr. Forrester, a teacher and preacher, 
who took the Bible as his only authority 
and guide in matters of faith and practice, 
Mr. Scott was led to study the Scriptures 
with reference to the subject of infant bap- 
tism. He came to the conclusion that it 
had no sanction in the word of God, and 
that the immersion of a believer was the 
true scriptural practice. He was immersed 
and became associated with Mr. Forrester 
in the work of teaching, and in charge of 
the small company of immersed believers 
gathered together by Mr. Forrester. Upon 
the sudden death of Mr. Forrester, he as- 
sumed oversight of the church. His study 
of the New Testament and his reading of 
the works of John Locke, brought him to 
the conviction that the central truth of 
Christianity was the messiahship of Jesus, 
and that the confession, "Jesus is the 
Christ," was the sole article of faith in the 



Reformers Among the Baptists 143 

creed of the primitive church. He had 
come to his religious position before he met 
Alexander Campbell, who came to Pittsburg 
in 1 82 1 on a visit to his father. This led to 
a mutual acquaintance and a subsequent 
cooperation between the three men in the 
work of " reforming the Christian profes- 
sion." Scott and Campbell were in perfect 
accord in their religious principles, and 
formed a personal and intimate friendship 
which lasted through life. They consulted 
together in the establishment of the Chris- 
tian Baptist and in the first number ap- 
peared an article by Scott, "On Teaching 
Christianity," in which he said: "Times 
out of number we are told in Scripture that 
the grand saving truth is that Jesus is the 
Christ. This is the bond of union among 
Christians — the essence — the spirit of all 
revelation." This was Scott's contribution, 
par excellence, to the principles of the new 
reformation. The two men influenced each 
other in the clearer grasp of New Testa- 



i44 The Disciples of Christ 

ment teaching, each contributing to the 
other his body of newly discovered truth. 

It was this man who was chosen in 1827 
to go among the Baptist churches of the 
Mahoning Association to preach "the an- 
cient gospel" and to restore "the ancient 
order of things." By this time he had fully 
settled in his mind the " authorized plan of 
teaching the Christian religion," and of 
bringing men into the church. This may 
be said to have been a specialty with him, 
and now he was to have his first great op- 
portunity of putting it into practice. His 
first step was (1) /a//A. The sole aim of 
the preacher should be to awaken faith in 
the unbeliever towards Jesus as the Son of 
God. Faith being the result of testimony, 
the preacher must proclaim the evidences 
of the messiahship as recorded in the four 
Gospels. This gave him an opportunity to 
contrast the prevailing Calvinistic doctrine 
of saving faith with the new doctrine. In- 
stead of pleading with God to be merciful 



Reformers Among the Baptists 145; 

to the sinner and grant him saving faith, 
the preacher pleaded with the sinner to ac- 
cept the testimony God had given of his 
Son in the Scriptures. In this connection 
the metaphysical creeds of the churches 
which were imposed on the faith of men as 
a condition of peace with God and fellow- 
ship with his Son, were held up for ridicule 
and dissection, and were denounced as 
causes of division and strife among Chris- 
tians. This gave him a chance to preach 
his doctrine of Christian union upon the 
basis of primitive Christianity. The next 
step was to call upon sinners to (2) repent. 
The emphasis was upon immediate and 
voluntary repentance, in contrast with the 
repentance of Calvinism which depended 
upon the disposition and choice of God. 
The sinner could not repent until God chose 
to grant it, or to intimate the sinner's elec- 
tion by some sign. The next step was to 
call upon the sinner to make a (3) confes- 
sion. That confession was submitted in the 



146 The Disciples of Christ 

words of Peter's confession: " Do you be- 
lieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the 
living God ? " No other test or requirement 
was exacted. They were then told to sub- 
mit to the ordinance of (4) baptism. He 
appealed to the example and precept of 
apostolic conversions. This gave him an 
opportunity to set forth the New Testa- 
ment form and doctrine of baptism as he 
understood it. The form was immersion, 
the doctrine was, "for the remission of 
sins." The great text was the instruction 
of Peter to the multitude on the day of Pen- 
tecost. They were then taught to expect 
(5) the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit 
did his work upon the sinner through the 
revealed and accredited testimony, but after 
baptism he was the personal guest and com- 
forter of the believer. This was the "an- 
cient gospel," the discovery and first preach- 
ing of which are accredited to Walter Scott. 
This was the substance of the sermons 
Walter Scott preached among the Baptists. 



Reformers Among the Baptists 147 

To say that it thrilled some and shocked 
others, would be putting it mildly. It had 
never been heard on that wise before. To 
the sinner, troubled with fears and doubts 
of his election, denied all supernatural 
tokens of his acceptance with God, agoniz- 
ing in prayer for saving faith and the guid- 
ing power of the Holy Spirit, it came as a 
welcome and peace-bringing evangel. To 
staid Calvinistic Baptists who had found 
peace and acceptance with God in the old 
way, it was shocking. It was only after a 
great struggle that Scott got himself to the 
point of putting it in practice. He believed 
it was done that way in apostolic times, 
why would it not work to-day ? The first 
place he tried it was in the Baptist church 
at New Lisbon, Ohio. It worked, for the 
first person to respond to the appeal was 
the most eminent and influential member of 
the Presbyterian church. This man had 
once said to his wife: "When I find any 
person preaching as did the apostle Peter in 



148 The Disciples of Christ 

the second chapter of Acts, I shall offer my- 
self for obedience and go with him." He 
found that person in Walter Scott. Within 
a few days seventeen persons "believed 
and were baptized." The church and en- 
tire community were aroused. He went 
from one town to another repeating the 
same message and meeting with the same 
results. At the close of the first year of 
work the Association met at Warren, Ohio. 
The result of his work was the conversion 
of nearly one thousand persons. The total 
membership of the sixteen churches com- 
prising the Association the year before was 
scarcely five hundred. The success of the 
" ancient gospel " this first year under Scott 
completely transformed the Association, 
and in 1830, at the meeting at Austintown, 
it was voluntarily dissolved in its Baptist 
form and met ever after as a " yearly meet- 
ing " for fellowship and acquaintance. 

Commingled in the message of these Re- 
formers were a proselytism and an evangel- 



Reformers Among the Baptists 149 

ism. To many members of Baptist, Pres- 
byterian and Methodist churches it came as 
a new gospel, and they were unable to tell 
whether it was the correction and enlighten- 
ment of their views of religion, or the 
stirring of their moral natures, which won 
them. In the stream which flowed into 
the rapidly filling ranks of " reforming 
churches" were both sinners and church 
members. The success was unprecedented. 
Through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and 
Kentucky the movement spread with rapid- 
ity among Baptist churches; while there are 
not wanting records of the capture of entire 
Methodist or other Protestant churches, as 
in the case of the Methodist church at Deer- 
field, Ohio. 

The secret of such success lay first of all 
in their appeal to the simple teaching of 
Scripture. Every one was able to open his 
Bible and apply the motto, " Where the 
Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are 
silent, we are silent." It was a democratic 



ljo The Disciples of Christ 

movement, founded upon the right and the 
ability of every person to interpret the 
Scriptures for himself, and upon the desire 
of every person to have a voice in the man- 
agement of his religious heritage. It may 
be said that the movement gave to the peo- 
ple in religion what they had obtained in 
the state, " a government of the people, for 
the people, and by the people." They took 
the government of the church and the inter- 
pretation of the Scriptures out of the hands 
of the clergy and councils, and put them 
into the hands of the people. The destruc- 
tion of " the rule of the clergy " was an oft 
repeated phrase and a fixed ideal of the Re- 
formers. The people were pleased and 
followed them. 

The message met the religious needs of 
the time, just as the message of Lyman 
Beecher and Charles G. Finney, and on the 
same ground. They all preached the doc- 
trine of "free agency and the sinner's im- 
mediate duty to repent." The background 



Reformers Among the Baptists 151 

of the movement was the dark, benumbing 
fatalism of Calvinistic theology. But neither 
Beecher nor Finney had grasped the clear 
and simple " plan of salvation " as set forth 
in the sermons of such men as Barton W. 
Stone, Walter Scott and John Smith. Over 
against the perplexing supernaturalism and 
mysticism of the theological preaching of 
the time, was set the plain instruction of 
those pentecostal preachers — " repent and 
be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your 
sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit. '' As illustrating the practical work- 
ing of their method, the following incident 
is told of John Whitacre: On one occasion 
in a meeting, among several at the altar 
praying for divine power to come down, 
was a lady of intelligence. "When she 
ceased, Whitacre spoke to her: 'Madam,' 
said he, ' what would you give for faith in 
Mahomet?' 'Nothing,' was her somewhat 
indignant reply. ' Why not ? ' he continued. 



152 The Disciples of Christ 

' Because I believe him to be an impostor.' 
' But why are you so anxious for faith in 
Jesus Christ?' 'Because I believe he is my 
only Saviour.' ' Well,' said Whitacre, ■ why 
are you praying for that which you say you 
have ? Why not go forward and obey the 
gospel . and be made free from sin?" 
Such intelligible instructions to sinners, 
perplexed and mystified by Calvinistic teach- 
ing, came as lights in the deepest darkness. 
It is notable that the great leaders and 
preachers of the movement came up under 
Presbyterianism and broke with it either on 
account of its government or its theology. 

Not less appealing was their message of 
unity and fraternity among warring, com- 
peting sects. Their vision of a united 
church upon the foundation of the apostles 
and prophets, with Christ himself as the 
chief corner stone, may have been Utopian, 
but it was beautiful and alluring, and gave 
to the people, sickened with the pettiness 
of sectarian differences, a noble ideal to 



Reformers Among the Baptists 153 

work for. In spite of the incongruity of its 
setting many times, and the inconsistency 
of its advocates, the doctrine of Christian 
union was felt to be providential. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SEPARATION OF THE REFORMERS FROM 
THE BAPTISTS 

The Baptists had many reasons for hold- 
ing the new reformation in doubt. Its 
advocates were often intemperate in their 
use of language and inconsiderate in their 
use of means against what they believed 
were erroneous beliefs and customs in Bap- 
tist churches. They were indifferent to the 
consequences of changes they were seeking 
to bring about in the Baptist order. It was 
the privilege of every person to apply the 
principle, " Where the Scriptures speak, we 
speak; where they are silent, we are 
silent," and many of the Reformers seemed 
to vie with each other in the number of 
novel and absurd changes they could intro- 
duce. 

The principle had both a positive and a 
i54 



The Separation of the Reformers 155 

negative application. It was with respect 
to the "order of things" in the primitive 
church that they were chiefly concerned. 
It was a simpler task to put into practice the 
ritual precepts and examples of the New 
Testament than its ethical and spiritual pre- 
cepts and examples. They were not obliv- 
ious of the fact that the New Testament 
taught a "spirit of things" as well as an 
"order of things" but they joined issue 
upon the order. They found that the 
Scriptures not only spoke of the Lord's sup- 
per as being celebrated on the first day of 
the week, and of baptism as an immersion 
or burial in water, and of deacons and elders 
as constituting the official organization of 
the local church, and of reception of persons 
into the church upon a confession of their 
faith and baptism — all of which they put into 
practice; but they also found that the Scrip- 
tures spoke of the holy kiss, of feet wash- 
ing, of mutual exhortation in public meet- 
ings, of the "amen" at the close of prayer, 



156 The Disciples of Christ 

of eating the Lord's supper in the evening, 
of baptism in streams of water, of kneeling 
in prayer, of a community of goods, of the 
silence of women in churches — all of which 
were tried in various churches in the begin- 
ning, but never with the approval of the 
leaders. These things were regarded as 
"the circumstantials of Christian worship/' 
which should be treated with freedom and 
forbearance. The Baptists, however, could 
not tell where the principle would lead 
them, for it was capable of endless applica- 
tion and experiment. The churches had 
not found a common level of belief and 
practice. They were passing through the 
experimental stage. While each church 
was perfectly free and independent, yet 
there was one master mind, one control- 
ling genius, who was leading them. He 
spoke through the pages of the Christian 
Baptist, The mind and personality of Alex- 
ander Campbell dominated the entire move- 
ment. After he had spoken there was no 



The Separation of the Reformers 157 

use for any one else to speak. Through his 
writings and suggestions in the Christian 
Baptist he regulated and controlled the con- 
duct of all the preachers and churches. He 
introduced the widely separated congrega- 
tions of Reformers to each other, and was the 
connecting link that bound them together. 

But these Reformers respected the "si- 
lence of Scripture " quite as much as the 
" speech of Scripture." This plunged them 
into extravagances and extremes in the 
other direction, much to the annoyance and 
alarm of the Baptists. Where there was 
not a "Thus saith the Lord" for a Baptist 
belief or usage, there was ready a " Thus 
saith the Reformer" against it, and the 
Scriptures were made to speak quite as 
loudly against some things as for other 
things. One after another the cherished 
customs and institutions of the Baptist order 
were swept away, as having no sanction in 
the word of God, and there was no telling 
what would go next. There was no pre- 



158 The Disciples of Christ 

cept or example in the New Testament for 
the use of creeds as bonds of fellowship, or 
for the examination of converts as to their 
Christian experience, or for ministerial calls, 
clerical authority, associations of churches, 
missionary societies, Bible societies, tract 
societies or Sunday-schools. Wherever the 
new reformation prevailed all these things 
were done away. No wonder it looked 
like disorganization and anarchy to a Baptist 
who was not captivated by it. What re- 
sponse but opposition could be expected on 
the part of a strong, established, and re- 
spectable body, such as the Baptist denomi- 
nation, to the inroads of such lawlessness? 
Whether in the majority oi the minority the 
faithful among the Baptists stood up in de- 
fense of their system. The leading Baptist 
papers of the country, such as the Western 
Luminary, the Western Recorder, the 
Pittsburg Recorder, Columbian Star, and 
the New York Baptist Register, entered the 
controversy against Campbell. 



The Separation of the Reformers 1 59 

The appearance of his teachings in local 
churches was the signal for opposition and 
strife which usually ended in division. 
Such inquiries as the following began to 
come from the churches to the associations: 
" What must a church do with her preacher 
who has embraced Campbellism ? " The as- 
sociation replied: " As we know not what 
Campbellism is, we cannot tell her what to 
do. ,, There were many divisions in 
churches between the Reformers and Bap- 
tists from 1824 to 1828; as at Nelson, Ohio, 
in 1824, and at Salem, Ohio, in 1828; but 
these resulted in merely local estrangement 
between two parties, each of which estab- 
lished a church of its own. Such divisions 
were not long in finding their way into 
associations. Both parties usually claimed 
to be the original Baptist church of the 
place, and sent messengers to the associa- 
tion. The recognition of one party or the 
other was sure to divide the association. It 
was the beginning of the end of relation- 



160 The Disciples of Christ 

ship between Baptists and Reformers when 
associations began to divide, and pass reso- 
lutions against " Campbellism." 

The first association to take definite action 
against the Reformers was the Redstone of 
Pennsylvania. A 'rule had been passed by 
the Association requiring the churches to 
mention the Philadelphia Confession in their 
letters, as a condition of representation in 
its meetings. In 1825 several churches 
failed to mention the Confession and their 
messengers were denied a seat. In 1826, by 
a reduction of representation in the Associa- 
tion, the opponents of the Reformers or- 
ganized it out of ten churches and cut off 
thirteen other churches. These churches cut 
off from the Association met in November 
the same year and organized a new associa- 
tion under the name, "The Washington 
Association. " This action was followed by 
the Beaver Association of Pennsylvania in 
1829, and in a series of resolutions it disfel- 
lowshipped the Mahoning Association of 



The Separation of the Reformers 161 

Ohio, for "disbelieving and denying many 
of the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures." 
This Association had come completely under 
the influence of Mr. Campbell and was go- 
ing on under the leadership of Walter Scott, 
triumphantly "restoring the ancient order 
of things." The Beaver resolutions were as 
follows: 

" i. They, the Reformers, maintain that 
there is no promise of salvation without 
baptism. 

"2. That baptism should be adminis- 
tered to all who say they believe that Jesus 
Christ is the Son of God, without examina- 
tion on any other point. 

"3. That there is no direct operation of 
the Holy Spirit on the mind prior to baptism. 

"4. That baptism procures the remis- 
sion of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

"5. That the Scriptures are the only 
evidence of interest in Christ. 

"6. That obedience places it in God's 
power to elect to salvation. 



162 The Disciples of Christ 

" 7. That no creed is necessary for the 
church but the Scriptures as they stand. 
And 

' '8. That all baptized persons have the 
right to administer the ordinance of bap- 
tism." 

These resolutions were scattered widely 
among other Baptist associations, and their 
boldness gave courage to many who had 
been waiting for the signal of attack. The 
Franklin Association of Kentucky passed 
them without change and warned all the 
churches against the errors of the Mahon- 
ing Association. In June, 1830, Tate's 
Creek Association excluded the Reformers, 
passed the Beaver resolutions, and added 
four more as follows: 

"9. That there is no special call to the 
ministry. 

"10. That the law given by God to 
Moses is abolished. 

"11. That experimental religion is en- 
thusiasm. And 



The Separation of the Reformers 163 

11 \2. That there is no mystery in the 
Scriptures." 

They named six preachers in the Associa- 
tion who were accused of these heresies, by 
which, they said, "We have seen associa- 
tions thrown into commotion, churches 
divided, neighbor made to speak evil of 
neighbor, brother arrayed against brother, 
the father against the son, and the daughter 
against the mother." This action was taken 
by ten out of the twenty-six churches com- 
posing the Association, the other sixteen 
having introduced the reformation. Nearly 
all the associations of Kentucky took some 
action with reference to "Campbellism " 
before the close of 1830, so that the line 
was pretty sharply drawn between Bap- 
tists and Reformers. This was true of 
Elkhorn, Bracken, Boone's Creek, North 
District, Union, Campbell County, Russell 
Creek, South Concord, and others. 

The action against the Reformers spread 
to Virginia and was led there by two of the 



164 The Disciples of Christ 

most eminent Baptists of the time, Robert 
Semple and Andrew Broaddus. After 
passing the resolutions of the Beaver Asso- 
ciation, the Appomattox Association at its 
meeting in 1830, passed the following 
recommendations : 

" 1. Resolved, that it be recommended 
to all the churches composing this Associa- 
tion, to discountenance the writings of 
Alexander Campbell. 

"2. Resolved, etc., not to countenance 
the new translation of the New Testament. 

"3. Resolved, etc., not to invite into 
their pulpit any minister who holds the 
sentiments in the Beaver anathema." 

The most significant and influential action 
was taken by the Dover Association which 
included in its membership the churches of 
Richmond and vicinity, and such men as 
Semple and Broaddus. A very long list of 
the errors and heresies of Campbell was 
drawn up and passed by the Association in 
December, 1830. It was called out of the 



The Separation of the Reformers 165 

regular time, the Reformers being omitted, 
for the purpose of initiating some action 
against persons in the Association who 
were preaching " Campbellism." After 
passing the Association the resolutions were 
referred to the churches. When they came 
before Semple's church they were defeated, 
though both Semple and Broaddus were 
present. In 1832 the Association withdrew 
fellowship from six ministers who had 
4 'adopted the name of Reformers." 

The darkness of the time for Baptist 
churches in the regions touched by the 
propaganda was voiced in many sets of 
resolutions and gloomy reports. The 
Dover Association at the close of its resolu- 
tions recommended to the churches "the 
observation of a day of solemn humiliation, 
with fasting and prayer, with reference to 
the state of religion, and the distress which 
had given rise to the meeting." The circu- 
lar letter of the Bracken Association in Ken- 
tucky in 1830, begins as follows: "Dear 



166 The Disciples of Christ 

Brethren: — In addressing you at this time, 
we lament to have to say that a dark and 
gloomy cloud overspreads our horizon un- 
equalled since the establishment of the Bap- 
tist society in Kentucky. Associations and 
churches are dividing and of course peace 
and harmony have departed." A very 
comprehensive account of the state of af- 
fairs in Tennessee, from the pen of Mr. 
McConnico, appeared in 1830. It reads as 
follows: "My beloved brethren: — Camp- 
bellism has carried away many whom I 
thought firm. These wandering stars and 
clouds without water ever learning and 
never able to come to the knowledge of the 
truth, make proselytes much more the chil- 
dren of the devil than they were before. 
O Lord! hear the cries and see the tears of 
the Baptists; for Alexander hath done them 
much harm. The Lord reward him ac- 
cording to his works. Look at the Creaths 
of Kentucky. Look at Anderson, Craig, 
and Hopwood, of Tennessee. See them 



The Separation of the Reformers 167 

dividing churches and spreading discord, 
and constituting churches out of excom- 
municated members. Such shuffling — such 
lying — such slandering — such evil speaking 
— such dissembling — such downright hy- 
pocrisy — and all under the false name of 
reformation. " " They have made divisions 
in Cool Spring church. " "The Association 
pronounced the old party the church, and 
excluded Anderson, Craig, and all who had 
gone off with them." "These were a 
large minority — they say the majority." 
" At Lepres Fork church a small party have 
gone over to Campbellism." "At Big 
Harpeth church, where I lived and served 
thirty-two years, ten or twelve members 
have left us." "At Nashville, P. S. Fall, 
native of England, and Campbell's best 
friend, has led off most of that church 
which was a member of Cumberland Asso- 
ciation." "On Saturday before the first 
Lord's day in September, Willis Hopwood, 
as is expected, will be excluded and per- 



168 The Disciples of Christ 

haps most of Liberty church will follow 
him." " Robertson's Fork church, Giles 
county, will divide, and probably a number 
will follow Hopwood." "Zion church, 
Bedford County, I fear, will suffer much 
from the same new ancient gospel." 
"Other churches may have some partial 
sifting." "The calf, too, is set up in Ala- 
bama." 

A similar account could be written of the 
majority of Baptist churches in Western 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Vir- 
ginia. Very few escaped the influences of 
the reformation in these districts. As soon 
as the Baptists had made up their minds that 
no good would come to their order from 
the toleration of this new system, that it 
meant the overturning of customs and be- 
liefs which had made them what they were, 
a definite policy of resistance towards the 
Reformers was adopted. They were given 
no choice between rejection of " Campbell- 
ism " and separation from their Baptist 



The Separation of the Reformers 169 

brethren. The reformation took them by 
surprise at first. There were many unmis- 
takably true things in it, and if it could only 
be restrained within proper bounds, the 
Baptists thought they could tolerate it. But 
under success the Reformers grew bold and 
confident, and under restraint they grew 
defiant. They felt that they had the truth 
and that the Baptists needed it; and like a 
child refusing bitter medicine for its malady, 
so the Baptists were resisting the truth of 
the Reformers — the less they liked it, the 
more they needed it. 

At the bottom of the conflict lay two 
classes of differences, doctrinal and prac- 
tical. The doctrinal differences consisted of 
disagreement as to (1) the relative authority 
of the Old Covenant and the New. Camp- 
bell denied that the Old had any binding 
obligation on the Christian. Its abroga- 
tion seemed to the Baptist a form of anti- 
nomianism, if not irreverence. They dif- 
fered in their (2) doctrine of baptism. 



170 The Disciples of Christ 

Campbell taught that baptism was in some 
way connected with the remission of sins; 
and that as far as he could understand New 
Testament teaching and apostolic practice, 
baptism should precede entrance into the 
church or the fellowship of Christian peo- 
ple. He did not give baptism alone regen- 
erating efficacy, but in connection with 
faith and repentance, it constituted the proc- 
ess of regeneration or conversion. To the 
Baptists this view made too much of bap- 
tism and constituted it a direct means of 
salvation. In practice both Baptists and Re- 
formers insisted upon it, but in theory they 
held it differently. They also differed in 
their view of (3) the operation of the Holy 
Spirit in conversion. Campbell taught that 
he operated on the sinner indirectly through 
the Word of God, the testimony of the 
Spirit; the Baptists believed that he operated 
directly upon the sinner, through a direct, 
physical impact upon his heart and con- 
science while he was still dead in trespasses 



The Separation of the Reformers 1 7 1 

and in sins. Both held that the Spirit dwelt 
in the heart of the believer as his personal 
guide and comforter. They differed as to 
his method in constituting one a believer. 
The Baptists taught that the sinner had need 
of the Spirit in producing faith and quicken- 
ing the spiritual life, while the Reformers 
taught that faith was a faculty already 
possessed by the human mind, and was 
awakened towards Jesus Christ by the sub- 
mission of testimony to his messiahship out 
of the Scriptures. 

They differed also in many practices. As 
to the (1) value and use of creeds. The 
Reformers believed that they were both un- 
necessary and unscriptural, and the cause 
of strife and division among Christians. 
The Baptists used them and believed that 
they were necessary to keep error out of 
the church and as convenient summaries of 
the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. 
They differed in the (2) method of receiving 
persons into the church. The Reformers 



172 The Disciples of Christ 

baptized a person upon the confession of 
his faith in the messiahship of Jesus, and 
received him without further test into the 
church. The Baptists required an examina- 
tion of the person before the officers or the 
entire church, the relation of an experience 
which should be acceptible as evidence of a 
change of heart, and by vote of the congre- 
gation admitted him to baptism. The Re- 
former's haste seemed loose and dangerous 
to the Baptists, who by inheritance from 
the past were careful to guard the church 
from unregenerate persons. They differed 
in the (3) administration of baptism. The 
Reformers held that baptism could be 
validly administered by any believing Chris- 
tian; the Baptists required the offices of an 
ordained minister. In (4) the observance of 
the Lord's supper, the Reformers celebrated 
it every Sunday, the Baptists only monthly 
or quarterly. The Reformers held that, in 
(5) the call to the ministry, the fitness of the 
person, both morally and intellectually, con- 



The Separation of the Reformers 173 

stituted the call; while the Baptists insisted 
upon a supernatural summons attested by 
some spiritual or physical sign. Other dif- 
ferences existed, but these are the ones that 
were the chief causes of conflict, and made 
their appearance the most frequently. 

In spite of the differences with the Bap- 
tists the Reformers were determined to stay 
with them, partly because of old associa- 
tions, and partly because they were con- 
scientiously opposed to divisions. Alexan- 
der Campbell had said in 1826: " I and the 
church with which I am connected are in 
full communion with the Mahoning Baptist 
Association of Ohio; and through them 
with the whole Baptist society in the United 
States; and I do intend to continue in con- 
nection with this people so long as they 
will permit me to say what I believe, to 
teach what I am assured of, and to censure 
what is amiss in their views and practices. 
I have no idea of adding to the catalogue of 
new sects. This game has been played too 



174 The Disciples of Christ 

long." He looked upon separation from 
the Baptists as equivalent to the formation 
of a new sect. A Baptist said to John 
Smith: " Why is it that you Reformers do 
not leave us ? Go off quietly now and let 
us alone." "We love you too well for 
that," replied Smith. " My brother Jonathan 
once tried to swap horses with an Irishman, 
but put, perhaps, too great a price on his 
horse. The Irishman declined to trade, and 
by way of apology said : ' It would be a 
great pity, Mr. Smith, to part you and your 
horse, for you do seem to think so very 
much of him.' So we feel towards you 
Baptist brethren." Each party accused the 
other of being the cause of the divisions 
and distresses, but each felt justified in 
maintaining its position against the other 
unchanged. The Baptists were sure that 
so old, well tried, and successful a system 
as theirs, could not be far wrong; while 
the Reformers were sure that their system 
was just a little older, for it went back to 



The Separation of the Reformers 175 

the very beginning, and " started where the 
apostles left off." To the degree that the 
Reformers urged the Baptists to give up 
their creeds, their doctrines, and human in- 
ventions, to that degree they held on to 
them and discovered new reasons for hold- 
ing on. In this controversy as in most 
controversies, where there is truth and 
honesty on both sides, and error and preju- 
dice on both sides, it is difficult, if not im- 
possible, to say which side should surrender. 
In this, as always, it was fought out to the 
bitter end. Since that time the Baptists 
have given up their creeds, have modified 
their Calvinism, their requirements of an 
examination and experience for member- 
ship in the church, and have reduced the 
authority of associations; while the Re- 
formers as " Disciples of Christ " have given 
up their opposition to missionary, Bible, 
and tract societies, salaried clergy, associa- 
tion of churches, have recoiled from the 
literalism of the authority of primitive pre- 



176 The Disciples of Christ 

cept and example, and above all have 
sweetened in spirit towards those that differ 
from them. Such modifications and mod- 
erations did not seem possible to the parties 
in the midst of the conflict. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE UNION OF REFORMERS AS DISCIPLES OF CHRIST 

It is apparent by the year 1830 that a new 
period has dawned in the movement for 
the union of all Christians by the restora- 
tion of primitive Christianity. The Baptists 
have declined to lend their organization to 
the purposes of the " Restorationers " and 
have thrust them out into a separate 
existence. There are scattered through 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Virginia, 
larger or smaller groups of persons called 
" Reformers " or nicknamed "Campbell- 
ites," composing a religious community of 
twenty or thirty thousand. 

It must not be forgotten that the move- 
ment was for the most part a propaganda 
among Baptist churches from 1813 to 1830. 
We shall look in vain for any wide diffu- 
sion of the " ancient order of things," out- 
177 



178 The Disciples of Christ 

side of Baptist churches or in regions not 
covered by them. The movement travelled 
most rapidly over the way prepared for it 
by the diffusion of Baptist principles and 
societies. The people who became Re- 
formers were first of all Baptists. The 
separation was against their choice and 
seemed without reason when they agreed 
with their Baptist brethren in the majority 
of fundamental Christian doctrines, such as 
the authority of Scripture, the divinity of 
Christ, justification by faith, the atonement, 
and the forgiveness of sins. It was impos- 
sible for them entirely to shake off their 
Baptist proclivities and inheritances, or to 
cut all the ligaments which bound the new 
body to its mother. The mother could 
not disown the child, and the child could 
not deny the mother, so striking were 
the resemblances between them. Many 
churches of Reformers were separated 
with the expectation of continuing as 
Baptist churches. They could scarcely be- 



The Union of Reformers 179 

lieve that it was the end of fellowship with 
the Baptists until the crisis came in a 
general separation in 1829-30. Cut off in 
one place, they entered into fellowship 
with Baptists in another and felt them- 
selves in the larger fellowship of the en- 
tire body. It was some time before and 
only by degrees that the Baptists convinced 
the Reformers that they would have to go 
alone. In some places Baptist churches 
admitted Reforming preachers to their pul- 
pits, while in other places they were de- 
barred. By 1832 the Reforming element 
was practically eliminated from the Baptist 
churches, and wherever their preachers 
went they were obliged to seek a new 
opening and to establish a new society, 
if their converts desired Christian fellow- 
ship. Hitherto the Baptist churches had 
profited by the recruits of Reforming 
preachers. 

That the process of separation was not a 
painless one is evidenced by the violent 



180 The Disciples of Christ 

closing of church doors against Reforming 
preachers, the many estrangements between 
lifelong friends, and the many legal con- 
tests over the ownership of church prop- 
erty. Very often the property of a Bap- 
tist church passed over to the Reformers 
without contest, as at Warren and Hub- 
bard, Ohio. But besides these various 
material inheritances, the Reformers took 
with them the remnants and forms of Bap- 
tist organization. In this way they got 
their start in the new world into which 
they were thrust. Fragments of local 
churches that were cut off, simply changed 
their places of meeting and went on. The 
same was true of associations. When the 
Mahoning Association of Ohio was dis- 
solved in 1830, though Alexander Camp- 
bell was present and used his influence 
against the action, yet he could not stem 
the tide that was setting against all forms 
of institutional authority or control in re- 
ligious matters, and he reluctantly consented 



The Union of Reformers 181 

to its transformation into a "Yearly Meet- 
ing " for edification and mutual acquaint- 
ance. When the Reforming churches of 
North District were disfellowshipped in 
1829, they met under their Baptist constitu- 
tion in 1830, and again in 1831 ; but at the 
last meeting the Association was dissolved 
to meet at Sharpsburg the following year, 
"and there communicate with one another, 
either by letter or otherwise, information 
respecting the progress and affairs of each 
church/' 

The Reformers of different neighboring 
Baptist associations, conscious of their sym- 
pathy with each other, began to hold sepa- 
rate meetings, from which were omitted 
those known to be out of sympathy 
with them. Such a meeting was held at 
Mount Zion, Clark County, Kentucky, in 
October, 1829. ' n l %3° a notice was sent 
out calling a meeting of those friendly to 
the reformation, under the name of "Bap- 
tist Reformers," to be held at Mayslick, 



182 The Disciples of Christ 

Kentucky. This meeting was attended by 
Campbell. Such meetings grew more com- 
mon after 1830, and were the earliest form 
of association of Reformers. Every ele- 
ment of authority or control over either 
persons or churches was eliminated from 
them, and they amounted to little more 
than meetings for worship, instruction, and 
acquaintance. Since nothing was under- 
taken by them in the way of missionary 
or evangelistic work, it was inevitable 
that people would lose interest in them, 
until they passed away, to be succeeded 
later, in the period of organized missionary 
effort, by the " convention " system. Camp- 
bell deprecated the loss cf cooperation and 
urged some form of organization to take 
the place of the old Baptist associations. 
The Reformers were indifferent to it, or 
were occupied in the work of propa- 
gandism, to the exclusion of every other 
interest. The thing that bound them to- 
gether was the common devotion to the 



The Union of Reformers 183 

restoration of the "ancient order" and the 
proclamation of the "ancient gospel." 
Every preacher was a missionary of this 
new crusade. 

The Reformers were now confronted by 
all the difficulties and problems that lay be- 
fore the setting up of independent eccle- 
siastical housekeeping. They had nobody 
to please but themselves, and they alone 
were responsible for failures or successes. 
That a new era had dawned was apparent 
to Alexander Campbell. He recognized 
that his teaching had created a party, which 
had begun to be designated by various dis- 
tinguishing names, as " Reformers," " Res- 
torationers," " Campbellites," and "Chris- 
tian Baptists"; and for fear that the last 
name might cling to them, he decided to 
terminate the publication of the Christian 
Baptist in 1830. It was to be succeeded by 
a publication with a broader scope and a 
different spirit, and was to be called the 
Millennial Harbinger. He felt that the 



184 The Disciples of Christ 

Christian Baptist had served the purpose 
for which it was established, but that new 
conditions had arisen which called for an- 
other method. He regretted many things 
that had appeared in the Baptist, on account 
of their harshness and severity, but he felt 
that "desperate diseases require desperate 
remedies/' He began to caution writers 
for the Harbinger to preserve a spirit of 
mildness and meekness and went so far as 
to decline to publish some articles sent in 
by Reformers because "they were at least 
seven years after date," and admonished 
them "to reform as the reformation pro- 
gresses; and if there be any flagellating or 
scalping to do, let it be reserved for capital 
offenses/' There was present in the first 
articles of the new periodical the conscious- 
ness of a new task with new duties and re- 
sponsibilities. It was no longer the task of 
destroying the old and uprooting the false, 
but of establishing the new r , of guiding and 
developing an unorganized community into 



The Union of Reformers 185 

cooperation for service. The Harbinger 
became the agency for its welding together. 
One of the first problems to concern them 
was the name they should wear. The 
question had been discussed from the early 
days of the Christian Baptist. The choice 
lay between two New Testament designa- 
tions for the people of God, "Christians" 
and "Disciples of Christ." The former 
name had been taken by the followers of 
Stone, and was thought by Campbell to 
have become a sectarian badge because of 
the heretical teachings attributed to them. 
For this reason he preferred the name Dis- 
ciples of Christ, as one that could be worn 
by all Christians, without carrying with it 
any sectarian distinction or assumption of 
superiority. Both names came into use by 
the Reformers, the name Christian prefer- 
ably by those who came under the influence 
of Stone, and the name Disciple of Christ 
by Alexander Campbell and those who came 
under his influence. As a matter of course 



i86 The Disciples of Christ 

they came to repudiate the name Reforming 
Baptists, or Campbellites, or Restorationers, 
and every other name without New Testa- 
ment sanction. A part of their testimony 
against other religious bodies was their use 
of names to distinguish them as followers 
of great theological teachers or party lead- 
ers, such as Lutheran or Wesleyan; or to 
call attention to some peculiarity of faith or 
practice, such as Methodist, Presbyterian, 
or Baptist. They opposed them on the 
ground that they were both unscriptural, 
unnecessary, and divisive in their tenden- 
cies. 

The question of supply of ministers for 
the new churches created by the separation 
from the Baptists, seems to have solved 
itself, as no measure was adopted to enlist 
men in the service of the Reformers. 
Enough preachers from the Baptists and 
other religious bodies joined the Reformers 
to provide for the pastoral needs of the new 
congregations. Very few of them had set- 



The Union of Reformers 187 

tied pastors. The missionary spirit of the 
preachers and the evangelistic cast of their 
preaching, as well as the smallness of the 
congregations, made them by choice and 
necessity itinerant preachers. With such 
low requirements for entrance upon the 
ministry, and with such a simple, clear-cut 
message to proclaim, it was not difficult to 
enlist or find men of sufficient preparation 
to go out and win converts. Learning was 
held in low esteem and was not considered 
necessary for the exposition of the Bible, 
the preacher's text-book, which was 
capable of neither a double nor a doubtful 
meaning in its vital parts. Most of the 
communities into which the preachers went 
did not require a high degree of learning. 
Piety, mother-wit, and a ready tongue were 
far more important than the contributions 
of the schools. The first school that was 
established to supply a ministry for the 
Disciples was not opened until 1840. It 
was founded by Alexander Campbell and 



i88 The Disciples of Christ 

called " Bethany College." Without prep- 
aration of any sort, from the farm and the 
shop, scores of young men went out to 
preach the " ancient gospel." Among such 
were John Henry, who was born in 1797, 
and died in 1844. He learned to play on 
nine kinds of instruments in his youth, was 
brought into the church by Adamson Bent- 
ley at thirty years of age, started out to 
preach from the farm where he had spent 
most of his life, and became one of the 
most powerful and eloquent masters of re- 
ligious assemblies among the Disciples. He 
and Alexander Campbell were to speak at 
the same meeting. He spoke first and 
many who did not know either of the 
speakers supposed it was Campbell. After 
Campbell had spoken some time at the close 
of Henry's sermon many of the hearers 
said: "We wish that man would sit down 
and let Campbell get up, for he knows how 
to preach." His ministry was spent chiefly 
in Ohio. Another Ohio man was William 



The Union of Reformers 189 

Hayden, who was born in 1799 and died in 
1863. He was without education, became 
a Baptist, passed from the farm to the pul- 
pit, and of him Walter Scott said to the 
Mahoning Association in 1828: " Brethren, 
give me my Bible, my head and William 
Hayden, and we will go out and convert 
the world." He became singing evangelist 
to Scott "and during a ministry of thirty- 
five years he travelled ninety thousand 
miles, fully sixty thousand of which he 
made on horseback. . . . The baptisms 
by his own hands were twelve hundred and 
seven. He preached over nine thousand 
sermons." There were many other preach- 
ers of lesser talent and influence whose edu- 
cational opportunities were as limited as 
those of Henry and Hayden. 

Of a somewhat different type was David 
S. Burnet, who was born at Dayton, Ohio, 
in 1808, and died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 
1867. His father was a lawyer and for 
twelve years mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. 



190 The Disciples of Christ 

He was brought up as a Presbyterian, but at 
sixteen years of age, after careful study of 
the New Testament, was baptized into the 
Baptist church. He began preaching at 
once, and at twenty years of age became 
pastor of the Baptist church at Dayton, Ohio. 
He began to read the writings of Campbell 
and at the time of the separation of Baptists 
and Reformers he went with the latter. 
His activities were various. He was 
preacher, pastor and college president, 
editor and author, and in every capacity he 
excelled. If in any particular he excelled 
more than another it was as a speaker. He 
was a pulpit orator of no mean ability and 
occupied the most responsible positions and 
was held in the highest esteem among the 
Disciples. 

The most significant event in the develop- 
ment of the body of Reformers, following 
close upon the heels of their separation 
from the Baptists, was the union of the Re- 
formers and the Christians, the followers of 



The Union of Reformers 191 

B. W. Stone. We have traced the process 
by which Stone broke with the Presbyte- 
rians in 1803, followed by the organization, 
and within a year, the dissolution of the 
Springfield Presbytery, with the abandon- 
ment of creeds, human organizations and 
names; by which he made converts to his 
plan of Christian union upon the Bible alone, 
and organized churches in Ohio and Ken- 
tucky under the name Christians. The Re- 
formers among the Baptists and these Chris- 
tians were continually meeting upon the 
same field of labor from 1826, and upon 
discovery of agreement in many principles 
and practices, began to fraternize. 

There were present at the meeting of the 
Mahoning Association at New Lisbon, Ohio, 
in 1827, three Christian preachers, J. Merrill, 
John Secrest, and Joseph Gaston, who were 
invited to have a seat in the Association. 
They had come up from Kentucky and 
were preaching the doctrines of Stone 
everywhere through Ohio. Secrest, the 



192 The Disciples of Christ 

most able and influential of the Christian 
preachers in Ohio, after visiting Alexander 
Campbell at his home, came away convinced 
that "he was a man of great talent, a 
scholar, and forty years ahead of this gener- 
ation; and that if he carries the thing 
through as he has commenced, he will 
revolutionize the whole Protestant world, 
for his foundation can never be shaken." 

There was one difference in teaching and 
practice between the Reformers and these 
"New Lights" and that was as to the re- 
quirement of baptism. The Christians did 
not make it a condition of fellowship in 
their churches. They received persons into 
their churches by giving " the right hand of 
fellowship " and left it to each one as to 
whether he should be baptized afterwards. 
When Secrest learned the design and place 
of baptism as taught by Campbell, he went 
back to the churches he had established, 
calling upon the people to be " immersed 
for the remission of sins." 



The Union of Reformers 193 

John Gaston was led into the fellowship 
of the Christians by Secrest and became a 
close personal friend and preaching compan- 
ion of Walter Scott, by whom he was brought 
over to the views of the Reformers. They 
went together among Baptist and New 
Light churches, bringing them together, 
where they existed side by side, as in Salem, 
New Lisbon, East Fairfield, Green, New 
Garden, Hanover and Minerva, all in Ohio. 
Among the preachers of the school of B. W. 
Stone in Ohio who fell in with the teachings 
of Campbell and Scott, were Joseph Pan- 
coast, James Hughes, Lewis Hamrick, Lewis 
Comer, William Schooley, John Flick and 
John Whitacre. 

It was in Kentucky, however, the home 
of the movement, where the formal union 
took place between the Reformers and the 
Christians. They were stigmatized as 
"Arians" and "Unitarians," on account 
of the opposition of Stone to the metaphys- 
ical doctrines of the trinity, the divinity of 



194 The Disciples of Christ 

Christ, and the atonement. He was dis- 
posed to bring forward these doctrines in 
his preaching and writing, not to make them 
tests of Christian fellowship but to criticise 
and speculate upon them, to the neglect of 
the simple and essential doctrines of Chris- 
tianity. His opposition to Calvinism be- 
gan as a revolt against these orthodox doc- 
trines, and without pausing to understand 
his own view of them, his enemies drew 
the conclusion that he passed over to the 
extreme Unitarian position. As a matter of 
fact he taught an evangelical and biblical 
doctrine upon these subjects which would 
be regarded as orthodox to-day. But ene- 
mies of the movement were glad to believe 
and circulate the worst constructions of 
their teaching, so that prejudice against 
them was bitter in orthodox circles. They 
had no stronger haters than the Baptists, 
and when some of the Reforming Baptists 
were found to be mixing with them in 
purely religious intercourse, the orthodox 



The Union of Reformers 195 

were outraged. In 1828 the North District 
Association, notwithstanding the presence 
of a strong Reforming party, resolved not 
to have correspondence with any association 
that would retain in its connection a church 
that communed with Pedobaptists or with 
Arians. The Baptists of the Mayslick church 
were grieved that some of their brethren 
were opening the meeting houses to the 
Arians. Bracken association voiced her 
grievances against the Reformers as those 
who were not satisfied until they had 
brought into the churches and to the com- 
munion table every one that professed 
faith in Christ, regardless of whether they 
were Arians or anything else. Presbyte- 
rians and Methodists held the Christians in 
the same light. 

It was under reproaches such as these that 
the Reformers began to associate with the 
Christians. The latter seems to have been 
the party principally influenced by this as- 
sociation. Stone always acknowledged his 



196 The Disciples of Christ 

debt to Campbell for many important truths 
and wrote to him in 1827 as follows: 
" Brother Campbell, your talents and learn- 
ing we have highly respected; your cause 
we have generally approved; your religious 
views, in many points, accord with our 
own; and to one point we have hoped we 
both were directing our efforts, which point 
is to unite the flock of Christ, scattered in 
the dark and cloudy day." " From you we 
have learned more fully the evil of speculat- 
ing on religion, and have made considerable 
proficiency in correcting ourselves." But 
he goes on to lament the tendency in some 
of Campbell's writings to speculate upon re- 
ligious questions in a metaphysical way. 
Campbell replied: "Some weak heads 
amongst my Baptist brethren have been 
scandalized at me because I called you 
brother Stone. What ! say they, call an 
Arian heretic a brother} I know nothing 
of his Arianism, said I, nor of his Calvin- 
ism," " I am truly sorry to find that certain 



i 



The Union of Reformers 197 

opinions called Arian or Unitarian, or some- 
thing else, are about becoming the sectarian 
badge of a people who have assumed the 
sacred name Christians; and that some 
peculiar views of atonement or reconcilia- 
tion, are likely to become characteristic of a 
people who have claimed the high character 
and dignified relation of "the Church of 
Christ/' I do not say that such is yet the 
fact; but things are, in my opinion, looking 
that way; and if not suppressed in the bud, 
the name Christian will be as much a sec- 
tarian name as Lutheran, Methodist, or 
Presbyterian." 

From time to time friendly communica- 
tions passed between the two great leaders 
of the movements, calling out the position 
and attitude of each as to the practicability 
of the union of their respective followers. 
What seemed to be serious obstacles to the 
union in the way of differences in practice 
were discussed. In 1831 Stone wrote as 
follows : " The question is going the round 



198 The Disciples of Christ 

of society, and is often proposed to us, 
Why are not you and the Reformed Bap- 
tists one people? Or, why are you not 
united? We have uniformly answered: In 
spirit we are united, and that no reason ex- 
ists on our side to prevent the union in 
form.'' But there were certain differences 
which kept them apart, and these Stone 
states as follows: " 1. That we have fel- 
lowship and communion with unimmersed 
persons. They contend — so we understand 
them — that, according to the New Institu- 
tion, none but the immersed have their sins 
remitted, and therefore they cannot com- 
mune with the unimmersed. . . . We be- 
lieve and acknowledge that baptism is or- 
dained by the King a means for the remis- 
sion of sins to penitent believers, but we 
cannot say that immersion is the sine qua 
non, without maintaining the awful conse- 
quences above, and without contradicting 
our own experience. We therefore teach 
the doctrine ' Believe, repent, and be im- 



The Union of Reformers 199 

mersed for the remission of sins,' and we 
endeavor to convince our hearers of its 
truth, but we exercise patience and for- 
bearance towards such pious persons as 
cannot be convinced. 

"2. Another cause or reason why they 
and we are not united as one people is, that 
we have taken different names. They ac- 
knowledge the name Christian as most ap- 
propriate; but because they think this name 
is disgraced by us who wear it, and that to 
it may be attached the idea of Unitarian or 
Trinitarian, they reject it, and have taken 
the older name Disciple. This they have 
done in order to be distinguished from us. 
. . . We are ready any moment to meet 
and unite with those brethren, or any 
others who believe in and obey the Saviour, 
according to their best understanding of his 
will, on the Bible but not on opinions of its 
truth." 

While the great leaders were discussing 
their differences and the obstacles to union, 



200 The Disciples of Christ 

the preachers and the people were consum- 
mating union between Reformers and 
Christians wherever it was possible to do 
so in local communities. John T. Johnson, 
as soon as he made the acquaintance of the 
views of both Campbell and Stone, con- 
cluded that there was not sufficient differ- 
ence to keep their followers apart and began 
at once to urge a union. Stone lived near 
to him at Georgetown, Kentucky, and 
an intimate intercourse sprang up between 
them which resulted in Johnson's joining 
Stone as one of the editors of the Christian 
Messenger — a periodical established by Stone 
in 1826. To promote a closer relationship 
and acquaintance between the Disciples and 
Christians Johnson invited John Smith, who 
was known to be friendly with the Chris- 
tians, to come to Georgetown in November, 
1831, to hold a meeting with him, and con- 
fer upon the practicability and conditions of 
union between the two bodies. Several 
conferences were held and they arranged to 



The Union of Reformers 20 1 

have a general conference at Lexington, 
January 1, 1832. Representatives of the 
two movements were invited, and Smith 
and Stone, the one for the Disciples and the 
other for the Christians, were appointed to 
speak. They agreed in their proposals to 
make the Scriptures the basis of their union, 
and began the consummation of it by ex- 
tending the hand of fellowship before the 
company then and there present. The 
members of the two bodies followed the 
example of the two speakers and gave to 
each other the hand of fellowship amidst 
universal thanksgiving and rejoicing. Some 
persons asked the Christians after the union, 
" Are there no differences of opinion be- 
tween you and the Reformers ? " To which 
they replied, "We are not concerned to 
know; we have never asked them what 
their opinions were, nor have they asked 
us. If they have opinions different from 
ours, they are welcome to have them, pro- 
vided they do not endeavor to impose them 



202 The Disciples of Christ 

on us as articles of faith, and they say the 
same of us/' 

This act of union could not bind any one 
but those present and parties to it. To ex- 
tend it among the two bodies throughout 
Kentucky and other regions, two evangelists 
were chosen, John Smith for the Disciples 
and John Rogers for the Christians, to go 
together among the churches consummating 
the union. The event was felt to be a 
signal victory for the cause of Christian 
union as advocated by both parties. Similar 
coalitions between Disciples and Christians 
took place at the same time in Indiana, 
Illinois, and Tennessee. There was an ele- 
ment, however, among the Christians that 
looked with no favor upon union with the 
Disciples because of their teaching concern- 
ing baptism and the Holy Spirit, and who 
refused to go into it. They have survived, 
after union with the followers of James 
O'Kelley and Abner Jones, as the " Christian 
Connection Church." There were prejudices 



The Union of Reformers 203 

against the union on the part of many Re- 
forming Baptists because of the reputation 
of the Christians for Arianism, and loose 
teaching on baptism. John Smith had no 
little difficulty in convincing his friends in 
the churches about Mt. Sterling that the 
union was wise and scriptural, and he felt 
it needful to put out an "Address" to his 
Reforming brethren defining his action and 
correcting false impressions concerning the 
teaching and practices of the Christians. 
They had never heard any of the preachers 
of the Christians and knew of them only by 
hearsay. Wherever the two evangelists 
went they met with objections and preju- 
dices against the union on the part of mem- 
bers of one body or the other. The con- 
gregations of the two bodies in Lexington 
came together at first, but later separated 
on account of differences and did not finally 
unite until 1835. 

The contributions of the Christians to the 
joint movement were by no means unim- 



204 The Disciples of Christ 

portant. The biographer of John Smith 
estimates the number of Christians who 
came into the union in Kentucky alone at 
8,000. The number must have reached a 
third or a half more in other states. They 
contributed to the movement, besides Stone, 
several other preachers of superior talent 
and character. Samuel Rogers was born in 
Virginia in 1789; came to Kentucky in 1793 
with his parents, and finally settled there in 
1812. He was converted under the preach- 
ing of B. W. Stone, and after serving as a 
volunteer soldier in the war of 1812, began 
to preach the gospel as he had learned it 
from the Christians. He travelled exten- 
sively as a preacher through Kentucky, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and 
everywhere met with success. His early 
life, as narrated by himself, was full of the 
labors and privations of an itinerant preacher 
in the wilds of backwoods settlements, for 
which he received in payment scarcely 
enough to support himself. On many long 



The Union of Reformers 205 

journeys by boat and on horseback, he re- 
ceived less than he had expended along the 
way. From reading the writings of Alex- 
ander Campbell and after meeting and 
hearing him at Wilmington, Ohio, in 1825, 
" cloud after cloud rolled away from his 
mind, letting in upon his soul light and joy 
and hope that no tongue can express." The 
members of the church at Antioch, where 
he lived and preached, began to study the 
Bible in the new light, and within a year 
unanimously introduced "the ancient order 
of things " into their government and wor- 
ship. He was thus prepared for the coales- 
cence of the Disciples and Christians which 
began in Ohio in 1827 and was consum- 
mated in Kentucky in 1832. During a min- 
istry which continued past the eighty-fourth 
year of his age he baptized more than seven 
thousand persons. Associated with him in 
the work of the ministry and as a com- 
panion on many of his travels, was his 
younger brother, John Rogers, whom he 



206 The Disciples of Christ 

introduced to the ministry in 1819. He was 
baptized by Stone in 1818 and studied under 
him at Georgetown, Kentucky, and was 
ordained to the ministry by him in 1820. 
He met and heard Alexander Campbell at 
Carlisle, Kentucky, in 1824, from whom he 
"learned the true design of baptism — the 
necessity for weekly communion — the dis- 
tinction between faith and opinion — and the 
true basis of union upon the great and all- 
comprehensive proposition that Jesus is the 
Christ the Son of God." He "cordially 
embraced the views of the Reformation 
about the year 1831," and was one of the 
most active promoters of the union between 
the followers of Campbell and Stone in 
1832. He was chosen by the Christians to 
travel with John Smith, the representative 
of the Disciples, to unite the two bodies in 
Kentucky. 

Thomas M. Allen was born in Virginia 
in 1797. He was brought up under Pres- 
byterian influences, studied and practiced 



The Union of Reformers 207 

law until he was converted by Stone in 
1823. He was one of the six original 
charter members of the "Old Union " 
church, Fayette County, Kentucky. He 
began to preach and was ordained by Stone 
in 1825. He established churches at Paris, 
Antioch, Clintonville, and Cynthiana, Ken- 
tucky. After the union of the Christians 
and Disciples, in which he took a leading 
part, he moved to Missouri, and was one 
of the earliest as well as the most influen- 
tial preachers of the Disciples in that state. 

John Allen Gano was another preacher 
who came under the influence of Stone, 
first as a student in his school at George- 
town, and later as an attendant upon his 
ministrations in the pulpit. He was con- 
verted and baptized in 1827 by T. M. Allen, 
and began at once to preach as he had 
opportunity. He had prepared himself for 
the practice of law, but his fervent religious 
nature and his readiness of expression so 
admirably qualified him for the preaching 



2o8 The Disciples of Christ 

of the gospel, that he found no difficulty 
in turning away from his long-cherished 
purpose to practice law. He was the 
grandson of the eminent Baptist preacher 
of New York City, Rev. John Gano, who 
came to Kentucky and died there in 1804. 
He met Alexander Campbell in 1827 and 
came at once under his influence. 

Among other preachers who came by 
way of the Stone movement into the ranks 
of the united body must be mentioned the 
two brothers, F. R. Palmer and H. D. Pal- 
mer, B. F. Hall, Tolbert Fanning and Elijah 
Goodwin. The readiness with which the 
leading preachers espoused the cause of 
Campbell justified the observation of 
Samuel Rogers when he declared: " Stone, 
and those laboring with him, had consti- 
tuted churches throughout central and 
northern Kentucky upon the Bible and 
the Bible alone, and all these without 
exception came early into the reforma- 
tion. Stone's reformation was the seed 



The Union of Reformers I09 

bed of the reformation produced by Alex- 
ander Campbell." These preachers and 
many others of lesser note had prepared 
the way for the teaching of Alexander 
Campbell not only in Kentucky, but through 
Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, 
and Missouri. 

Stone and his followers were primarily 
Christian unionists, as had been Thomas 
Campbell and the Christian Association of 
Washington. There was emphasis upon 
reformation of faith and practice in their 
advocacy, as a preparation for union, but 
the union of the children of God was ever 
the end before them. As a consequence, 
their basis of fellowship was broader, and 
larger liberty was allowed to the individual 
conscience. They did not insist upon bap- 
tism as a condition of fellowship in their 
churches. Stone's conception of union was 
more spiritual than that of Campbell. He 
looked to a diffusion of the spirit of holi- 
ness and love among Christians to unite 



2lo The Disciples of Christ 

them, while Campbell rested his hope of 
union upon an agreement in New Testa- 
ment faith and practice. Campbell and 
many of his followers held aloof from the 
Christians at first on account of their sup- 
posed departure from sound doctrine, and 
it was not until the Christians had practic- 
ally signified their acceptance of the teach- 
ing of the Reformers upon the subject of 
baptism and the Lord's supper, that union 
with them was deemed advisable. Union 
came because the two parties found them- 
selves upon the same ground of faith and 
practice. The Stone movement was born 
out of a religious revival and the preachers 
of that connection were primarily winners 
of souls. They were all evangelists; and 
it was due to this fact that the movement 
spread so rapidly and widely. Alexander" 
Campbell was not an evangelist. He was 
essentially a teacher and set for his aim the 
transformation of the minds of Christian 
people with respect to the doctrines of Chris- 



The Union of Reformers 2 J 1 

tianity. The Campbell movement started 
as a propaganda among the churches and 
would have resulted in a proselytism when 
separated from the Baptists had it not been 
leavened by the evangelism of Walter Scott 
and the Stone movement. These two ele- 
ments, a proselytism and an evangelism, 
have survived side by side throughout the 
history of the Disciples, and have con- 
tributed more than all other elements to 
their growth. 



CHAPTER X 

EARLY GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION 

With the separation of the Reformers 
from the Baptists, and their coalescence with 
the followers of Barton W. Stone, a new 
religious party assumed form among Ameri- 
can denominations under the name, Disciples 
of Christ or Christians. They were charged 
with a message of reformation to their re- 
ligious neighbors and a gospel of imme- 
diate repentance to the unconverted. Every 
preacher of the new communion was a prop- 
agandist and travelling evangelist. Their 
one purpose now was to plant churches of 
the primitive order wherever they could get 
a large enough company together. 

The movement spread principally from 
two centres, Ohio and Kentucky. From 
Ohio it was carried eastward into New York 
and Pennsylvania; and westward into Michi- 

212 



Early Growth and Organization 213 

gan, northern Ohio and Indiana, and Wis- 
consin. From Kentucky it was carried 
eastward and southward into Virginia, 
Maryland, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and 
Alabama; and westward into Indiana, Illi- 
nois, and Missouri. The movement spread 
chiefly in a westward direction from Ken- 
tucky along the lines of emigration. Very 
often a sufficient number of emigrants to 
establish the nucleus of a society found 
themselves settled together in the same 
neighborhood and sent for a preacher to 
hold meetings and constitute them into a 
church. The movement was essentially a 
westward movement. It never made any 
notable progress east of the place of its 
origin, and remains comparatively weak 
and unknown to the present time east of 
the Alleghanies. Churches sprang up in 
this early period in all of the principal 
cities of the East, as Philadelphia, Buffalo, 
New York and Baltimore, by a sifting proc- 
ess from the Baptists and other churches, 



214 The Disciples of Christ 

and by the occasional removal of members 
from the West; but they have remained 
small and have survived only through a 
critical struggle for existence. The read- 
ing of the Christian Baptist and the Mil- 
lennial Harbinger and numerous tracts and 
books did much to propagate the move- 
ment beyond the circuit of the travelling 
evangelist, so that before 1850 there were 
churches in the British Provinces and in all 
of the British Isles, as well as in most of 
the states of the Union. 

The movement spread westward by leaps 
and bounds, first among Baptist churches 
and in regions touched by the Stone move- 
ment, and then independently through emi- 
gration and evangelization. The begin- 
nings of the movement in Ohio were 
among the Baptists of the Mahoning and 
Stillwater associations. Both associations, 
with few exceptions among either preachers 
or churches, were brought over to the 
views of Campbell and composed the first 



Early Growth and Organization 2 1 5 

churches of the Disciples. In these churches 
was also a large ingredient of the followers 
of Stone. The churches multiplied rapidly 
under the labors of such men as Walter 
Scott, William Hayden, J. H. Jones, Isaac 
Errett, Jonas Hartzel, J. J. Moss, A. B. Green, 
W. A. Belding and others. The early his- 
tory of the Disciples in eastern Ohio is in- 
cidentally connected with the rise of Mor- 
monism, on account of the conversion to 
that faith of Sidney Rigdon, the early as- 
sociate of Alexander Campbell and Walter 
Scott. His conversion occurred in 1830, 
through the influence of two missionaries 
who came to his home at Mentor, Ohio. 
He is said to have obtained more influence 
over Joseph Smith, the founder of Mor- 
monism, than any other living man; and 
to him was due the transfer of the seat of 
Mormonism from New York to Kirtland, 
Ohio, and its transformation into a commu- 
nistic society. Alexander Campbell was one 
of the earliest antagonists of the system. 



21 6 The Disciples of Christ 

The Disciples were greatly disturbed by its 
progress and suffered the loss of several 
churches. There were very few churches 
in the northwestern and central sections of 
the state in this early period. There were a 
few churches in the southwestern section 
in and around Cincinnati. The first church 
in Cincinnati was an offshoot from the 
Enon Baptist Church, under the leadership 
of James Challen, its pastor, who adopted 
the teachings of Campbell, and became the 
pastor of the first church of Reformers. 
This city received frequent visits from 
Campbell, and was the scene of two of 
his debates, one with the skeptic Robert 
Oweti, in 1829, on the " Evidences of Chris- 
tianity," and the other with Bishop J. B. 
Purcell of the Roman Catholic Church, 
in 1837, on the " Roman Catholic Religion." 
Both debates widened the fame and influence 
of Campbell, while the one with Owen put 
the entire Christian world under obligation 
to him. The movement in this region 



Early Growth and Organization 2 1 7 

of the state was principally promoted by 
Walter Scott, James Challen, D. S. Burnet, 
L. L. Pinkerton, L. H.Jameson, Dr. R. Rich- 
ardson and J. J. Moss. The first form of 
association among the Disciples in Ohio 
was the "yearly meeting "; but this was 
felt to be useless for missionary purposes, 
and in 1852 they organized a state mis- 
sionary society for "the proclamation of 
the original gospel within the bounds of 
the state of Ohio." At this time there were 
about 300 churches and 18,000 members in 
the state. With the multiplication and 
growth of the churches arose the need 
of an educational institution to provide 
a properly equipped ministry. To meet 
this need and to provide a school for the 
sons and daughters of Disciples in the 
state, the Western Eclectic Institute was 
established in 1850 at Hiram, Ohio, about 
thirty miles from Cleveland. The name 
was later changed to Hiram College. 
The beginnings of the movement in 



218 The Disciples of Christ 

Kentucky, as in Ohio, were among Bap- 
tist churches. The writings of Campbell 
preceded his visit to Kentucky in 1823, on 
the occasion of his debate with Maccalla. 
This visit greatly extended his influence, 
and, through the publication of the Chris- 
tian Baptist, he became a regular monthly 
visitor to an ever increasing number of sub- 
scribers in Baptist churches. One Baptist 
preacher after another adopted his views 
and taught them to the churches. In this 
state the movement made more extensive 
conquests in the early period than in any 
other state. The city of Lexington became 
the centre from which it radiated in every 
direction. It was propagated under the 
preaching of P. S. Fall, John Smith, 
J. T. Johnson, John Rogers, B. W. Stone, 
Alexander Campbell, Aylett Raines, and 
many other great preachers under their 
leadership. As soon as the Reformers 
were separated from the Baptists they 
began to hold "yearly meetings'' for edi- 



Early Growth and Organization 219 

fication and mutual acquaintance. It was 
not long before a more profitable form 
of association for missionary work was 
adopted. The effective work done by 
John Smith and John Rogers, in estab- 
lishing new churches and uniting the Chris- 
tians and Disciples after the formal union 
at Lexington in 1832, demonstrated the 
value of supporting evangelists by co- 
operation. The two men were kept in 
the field in 1833 and 1834, and in 1835 
four evangelists with limited fields were 
appointed. These evangelists were sent 
out and supported by groups of neigh- 
boring churches, by special voluntary 
agreement to provide their salary for a 
year; and such arrangements were re- 
newed from year to year. This was the 
customary form of cooperation in the 
early period, and was characteristic of 
Kentucky; but we meet it in Ohio, Indi- 
ana and Missouri. State meetings began 
to be held as early as 1844, an <3 mission- 



220 The Disciples of Christ 

ary work by the state as a whole began 
in 1850. A school under the management 
of Disciples was established at George- 
town in 1836, through the initiative of 
T. F. Johnson and J. T. Johnson. It was 
called Bacon College, after the philos- 
opher, Sir Francis Bacon. It was removed 
to Harrodsburg in 1839, where its work 
was suspended in 1850. Through the 
efforts of J. B. Bowman, a graduate of the 
college, its charter was renewed and en- 
larged and became the basis of a new 
institution in 1858 called Kentucky Uni- 
versity. It was moved to Lexington in 
1865. A Bible College was established in 
connection with it, which has probably 
educated more men for the ministry than 
any other single school among the Dis- 
ciples. 

The movement in Indiana had its sources 
chiefly among the Christians and Baptists, 
though the Dunkards contributed somewhat 
to the early period. The pioneers in the 



Eariy Growth and Organization 22 i 

work were Beverly Vawter, J. P. Thompson, 
John Wright, John O'Kane, Elijah Goodwin, 
J. ML Mathes, L. H. Jameson, S. R. Hoshour, 
B. K. Smith, and Benjamin Franklin. Co- 
operative missionary work was begun in 
1833 by the churches of Rush and Fayette 
Counties in uniting to send out and support 
John O'Kane as a missionary through the 
state. In 1839 a state meeting was held 
at Indianapolis, and in 1844 at a similar 
meeting at Connersville the state was di- 
vided into four districts and an evangelist 
put in each. The scheme fell through be- 
fore the end of the first year, and no further 
cooperative work was done until 1849. 
Under the leadership of Ovid Butler, 
Northwestern Christian University was 
established in 1850 at Indianapolis. The 
name was later changed to Butler Col- 
lege. 

Illinois received the reformation from 
Kentucky in the early period through the 
evangelistic labors of Christian preachers. 



222 The Disciples of Christ 

When B. W. Stone removed from Kentucky 
to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1834, he found in 
the place a church of Christians and one of 
Disciples that had not united as they had in 
other places. He refused to become a mem- 
ber of either church until they united. The 
preachers under whom the body was ex- 
tended and organized throughout the cen- 
tral and southern parts were B. W. Stone, 
D. P. Henderson, W. W. Happy, Josephus 
Hewet, and John T. Jones. The Disciples 
began to hold annual state meetings in 1832 
but there was no organization for missionary 
work until 1856 when the Illinois Christian 
Missionary Society was organized. At the 
annual state meeting at Abingdon in 1852 a 
resolution was brought before the conven- 
tion by an educational committee appointed 
the previous year, recommending to the 
churches the recognition of Walnut Grove 
Academy as the institution of learning of 
the Disciples in the state of Illinois. The 
Disciples were urged to foster it by sending 



Early Growth and Organization 223 

to it their sons and daughters, and donating 
to its library and apparatus, and raising such 
means as would enable the trustees to place 
it upon a sure and permanent basis. This 
school was started as a private enterprise 
by A. S. Fisher, a student from Bethany 
College, in 1848, under the patronage of 
several members of the Church of the Dis- 
ciples in the community. It was chosen as 
the school of the church because it was the 
only institution of learning in the state con- 
trolled by Disciples, and because it proposed 
to educate men for the ministry without 
charging them tuition. The churches or- 
ganized a board of education in 1852 to 
promote primitive Christianity by establish- 
ing schools exclusively under church con- 
trol. Walnut Grove Academy was chartered 
as Eureka College in 1855. Abingdon Col- 
lege, organized and conducted by Disciples 
in the interest of religious education since 
1853, was consolidated with Eureka College 
in 1884. From the beginning the college 



224 The Disciples of Christ 

has been an important factor in supplying 
men for the ministry and developing the 
work of the body in the state. 

The state of Missouri lay in the path of 
emigration to the west and was among the 
first to receive visits from Christian preach- 
ers from Kentucky. Thomas McBride came 
under the teaching of B. W. Stone in Ken- 
tucky, moved to Missouri in 1816, and was 
the first Christian preacher who crossed the 
Mississippi River to preach the Bible alone 
as the basis of Christian union. He preached 
and established churches in Howard, Boone, 
Franklin and other adjacent counties lying 
along the Missouri River. Samuel Rogers 
was the second Christian preacher to go to 
Missouri. He made his first journey in 1819 
and found many churches already established 
by McBride. These early Christian churches, 
together with many Baptist churches, pro- 
vided congenial soil for the teachings of 
Alexander Campbell and out of them came 
the first churches of the Disciples in the 



Early Growth and Organization 225 

state. The reformation was developed in 
the early period under the preaching of such 
men as J. H. Haden, T. M. Allen, M. P. 
Wills, F. R. Palmer, Absalom Rice, James 
Love, Jacob Creath, Allen Wright, Jacob 
and Joseph Coons, Henry Thomas, and 
Duke Young. The churches began to hold 
state meetings very early and by 1837 had 
begun to cooperate in missionary work. 
By 1850 there were estimated to be 16,000 
members in the state. 

The first church of the Disciples in Iowa 
was organized by David R. Chance in 1836 
at Lost Creek, and the first regular ministers 
to devote all their time to preaching were 
Aaron Chatterton and Nelson A. McConnell. 
In addition to the preaching by these two 
men the cause was represented in the pio- 
neer period by John Rigdon, S. H. Bonham, 
Jonas Hartzel, John Martindale, Pardee But- 
ler, David Bates, D. P. Henderson, Allen 
Hickey, S. B. Downing and J. K. Cornell. 
The first cooperative missionary work was 



226 The Disciples of Christ 

done in 1845, and the first state meeting was 
held at Marion in 1850. At that time there 
were thirty-nine churches and 2,000 mem- 
bers. The state missionary society was or- 
ganized in 1855, and N. A. McConnell was 
the first evangelist sent out. The churches 
took steps in 1856 to establish a college at 
Oskaloosa. The establishment of Drake 
University in 1881 by Gen. F. M. Drake, at 
Des Moines, came to overshadow Oskaloosa 
College, and withdrew the support and 
patronage of the churches from it to such a 
degree that it was obliged finally to abandon 
its work. 

The first converts to the teaching of 
Alexander Campbell in England were 
from among the Scotch Baptist churches 
founded by Archibald McLean. In 1833 
P. C. Wyeth, of Virginia, a disciple of 
Campbell, went to Europe to study art, and 
while in London wandered into a Scotch 
Baptist church presided over by Wm. Jones. 
He found himself among Christians of like 



Early Growth and Organization 227 

faith and order and told Mr. Jones of the 
" restoration movement " in America. 
Correspondence arose between Mr. Jones 
and Mr. Campbell upon the teachings of 
the Disciples and by 1835 the writings of 
Campbell began to be published in England 
under the title, British Millennial Har- 
binger. To James Wallace, who started a 
periodical called the Christian Messenger, 
belongs the principal credit for the early 
development of the movement in England. 
By 1842 the churches of the Disciples in the 
United Kingdom numbered forty-two, with 
a membership of 1,300. 

The first centre of the movement was 
Bethany, West Virginia, the home of Alex- 
ander Campbell, from which issued the 
Christian Baptist and Millennial Har- 
binger. While it was not long before each 
state had its own centre and leaders, its 
own religious papers and schools, yet 
Campbell continued to be the most authori- 
tative person and his paper the most repre- 



228 The Disciples of Christ 

sentative and influential, and his college the 
most popular among the Disciples to the 
time of his death in 1866. His writings 
were read in every state in the Union, and 
before 1840 nearly every state had churches 
established upon the principles he advo- 
cated. 

The rapid growth of the body as an inde- 
pendent movement and its continued suc- 
cesses after separation from the Baptists, 
confirmed the belief of its leaders in the 
correctness of their principles and teach- 
ings. They approached other religious 
bodies, confident of their advantage over 
them, and accepted the frequent secessions 
of members from them tc their own ranks 
as evidence of it. As a consequence they 
became and were reputed to be inveterate 
proselytizers. With such an attitude, all 
cordiality departed from their relationships 
with other denominations, and the frequent 
public debates engaged in did not promote 
fraternity, much less unity, between them. 



Early Growth and Organization 229 

Scores of debates were held between rep- 
resentatives of the Disciples and Baptists 
and other bodies upon the subject of bap- 
tism and other differences. The most 
notable of these discussions was that be- 
tween Alexander Campbell and Rev. N. L. 
Rice, a Presbyterian minister, at Lexington, 
Kentucky, in 1842, upon the subjects of 
baptism, the Holy Spirit, and creeds. The 
presence of Henry Clay as president of the 
board of five moderators, contributed much 
to the dignity and notoriety of the occasion. 
After the example of Campbell it was con- 
sidered good form and a valiant enterprise 
to get into a debate, and there were very 
few of the leading preachers who did not 
bring about such an engagement on some 
subject. While it was not always possible 
to avoid a public debate, yet it is highly 
probable that many preachers coveted the 
fame and courted occasion of debate. They 
justified the custom on the ground that it 
was a condition of self-preservation as well 



230 The Disciples of Christ 

as a means of publishing the truth to the 
world. In the midst of such religious war- 
fare one is surprised on the one hand at the 
proposals for union, but on the other hand 
not surprised at the poor success of such 
proposals. 

A meeting between the Disciples and all 
other religious bodies for the discussion of 
a basis of union was suggested and ar- 
ranged by J. T. Johnson, to be held at Lex- 
ington, Kentucky, in 1841. All religious 
parties were invited and were promised 
"equal privileges." Alexander Campbell 
and the Disciples were present in full force, 
but only one representative of other relig- 
ious bodies came in the person of Dr. 
Fishback, and he was a Baptist in partial 
sympathy. After a three days' discussion of 
the practicability of union on the basis of 
the things held in common by the denomi- 
nations, the following resolution was 
adopted: "That the Bible, and the Bible 
alone, is a sufficient foundation on which 



Early Growth and Organization 231 

all Christians may unite and build to- 
gether." To the surprise of the promoters 
of it, the meeting was not merely ignored 
but bitterly opposed by other bodies, the 
Baptists in particular. The reason for this 
is not far to seek. The Disciples proposed 
the meeting and went to it with a ready- 
made plan of union to submit and defend. 
They themselves were already building ac- 
cording to the plan, and to other bodies it 
was equivalent to an invitation to discuss 
the position of the Disciples. Their plan 
had failed to work in the case of the Bap- 
tists, with whom they were in closest 
agreement on most doctrinal points, and 
there was less likelihood that it would suc- 
ceed in the case of Presbyterians or Meth- 
odists. They were simply inviting other 
parties to come to them, and union was 
equivalent to absorption. In the discussion 
of the question of union they were con- 
scious of having everything to teach and 
nothing to learn. There could be but one 



232 The Disciples of Christ 

plan of union, that of the New Testament, 
and it was one they had received and were 
not at liberty to change. The problem of 
union was not an open one to them. Nat- 
urally, other denominationalists were not 
willing to put themselves in the attitude of 
learners, and not having plans of their own 
to submit, the meeting would be reduced 
to a discussion on the Disciples' own 
ground. 

The body very early developed a con- 
sciousness of scriptural correctness and in- 
fallibility which placed them in the light of 
a very narrow and exclusive sect. There 
was an element among them that con- 
tracted the spirit of a sect, though all the 
time professing hatred of sectarianism. 
They reprobated the state of other Chris- 
tians and declined to acknowledge the 
Christian status of those not in fellowship 
with them. This element was aroused by 
the admission of Alexander Campbell in an 
article in the Millennial Harbinger of 1837 



Early Growth and Organization 233 

that there were Christians among all Prot- 
estant sects. He had always held that 
view, but had not so plainly expressed it as 
in reply to a letter asking his view of the 
matter. His definition of a Christian as 
" one that believes in his heart that Jesus of 
Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God; 
repents of his sins, and obeys him in all 
things according to his measure of knowl- 
edge of his will," aroused the bitter criticism 
of many who held, that, since baptism is 
for the remission of sins, and only immer- 
sion is baptism, those who have not been 
immersed are still in their sins and unsaved. 
Campbell repudiated this view with indig- 
nation. This discussion developed the 
presence among the Disciples of two di- 
vergent parties, a narrow, literal party, and 
a broad, spiritual party. The former party 
went on to identify the true church of 
Christ by certain external marks — its creed, 
worship, organization, and discipline — and 
identified the true Christian as one in fel- 



234 The Disciples of Christ 

lowship with this order of things. They 
practically went so far as to affirm that no 
one could be saved outside of a church of 
the Disciples, or a church organized accord- 
ing to the primitive mt>del in its external 
features. Campbell and other leaders never 
gave this conception any sympathy, and 
arrayed themselves on the side of a broader, 
more spiritual conception. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE RISE OF INTERNAL CONTROVERSY 

The plan of Christian union founded upon 
a uniform interpretation of the Scriptures, 
as set forth in the Declaration and Address 
and as held and taught by the Reformers, 
did not insure or effect unity among those 
who held it. The possibilities of disagree- 
ment lay in the great watchword of the 
movement: '• Where the Scriptures speak, 
we speak; where they are silent, we are 
silent." Between the authority of Scripture 
and the Scriptures themselves, always lies 
the interpretation of them. In the last 
analysis, the authority of Scripture is the 
authority of the interpretation. There being 
no authoritative interpretation of Scripture 
among Protestants who accept the princi- 
ple of private or free interpretation, there 
are bound to be differences of interpretation 
235 



236 The Disciples of Christ 

upon many fundamental teachings of Scrip- 
ture. Freedom of interpretation was car- 
ried to its fullest extent among the followers 
of the Campbells, and each person was 
encouraged and trusted to make application 
of the rule, a "Thus saith the Lord" for 
every item of religious faith and practice. 
This very freedom developed differences all 
through the early period between the ex- 
tremely literal interpreters and the more 
spiritual. We found that in the earliest in- 
terpretation or definition of primitive Chris- 
tianity among the Reformers the literal 
method prevailed and resulted in an em- 
phasis upon the "order of things" in the 
primitive church. "The restoration of the 
ancient order of things " became the formula 
of development. But while Alexander 
Campbell was writing that famous series 
of articles in the Christian Baptist under 
the above title, he turned aside in a separate 
article on " The Spirit of the Ancient Chris- 
tians " to say: "To have an ancient order 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 237 

of things restored in due form without the 
spirit or power of that order, would be 
mere mimicry, which we would rather, and 
we are assured the primitive saints would 
rather, never see." "If the spirit of the 
ancient Christians and of their individual 
and social conduct was more inquired after, 
and more cultivated, we would find but 
little trouble in understanding and display- 
ing the ancient order of things." He found 
this spirit in the words: " Lord, what wilt 
thou have me to do ? " 

It began to be evident to the Disciples that 
primitive Christianity was something more 
than an order of things in public worship 
and church organization. The zeal which 
consumed the primitive Christians was not 
directed to forms of public worship. The 
form and order which their new life as- 
sumed were taken up unconsciously from 
the customs with which they were most 
familiar as Jews. Their Master's consuming 
interest had been in the saving of lost men 



238 The Disciples of Christ 

and women, and he communicated his 
passion to his followers. The principal 
business of the primitive church was the 
missionary enterprise. Campbell said in 
an address in 1851 that "the spirit of 
Christianity is essentially a missionary 
spirit/' It began to be felt by the Dis- 
ciples that as a people claiming the dis- 
tinction of restoring primitive Christianity 
they could not consistently neglect that 
which was the essential spirit and dis- 
tinguishing mark of the primitive Chris- 
tians — the seeking and the saving of the lost 
in all lands and among all peoples. The 
conversion of the heathen world had already 
become an enthusiasm in several denomina- 
tions. Before 1840 the Congregationalists, 
Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and 
Presbyterians had organized societies for 
the proclamation of the gospel in foreign 
lands. 

Stimulated by the example of other de- 
nominations, as well as by the precept of 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 239 

Christ and the example of the primitive 
church, the Disciples began to see that they 
were in need of a more effective form of 
cooperation, if they were to develop and 
properly use the spiritual and material 
forces represented in the rapidly increasing 
numbers of members in their churches. It 
was this sense of an increasing responsibil- 
ity growing out of an increasing member- 
ship which led to the formation of the 
American Christian Missionary Society in 
1849. Since 1844 Alexander Campbell had 
been urging his brethren to unite in some 
more effective form of cooperation. There 
had been for many years local and limited 
forms of cooperation between churches in 
the same states for purposes of denomina- 
tional evangelization and education. The 
example of a wider cooperation for un- 
sectarian purposes had been set in the 
organization of the "American Christian 
Bible Society" in 1845 at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
under the leadership of D. S. Burnet, for 



240 The Disciples of Christ 

the publication and distribution of Bibles. 
The organization of this society stirred the 
Disciples to action. Cooperation of the 
entire body in the great enterprises of 
Christian education, Christian missions, and 
Bible circulation, began to be urged in 
every quarter. But cooperation meant 
organization, and organization meant a 
society. 

The first serious internal controversy 
arose on account of the organization of this 
first missionary society. The society was 
opposed on the ground that there was 
neither precept nor example in the New 
Testament for the organization of societies 
for the spread of the gospel. Some of the 
bitterest satire in the columns of the Chris- 
tian Baptist had been directed against (he 
"mercenary schemes" of the missionary, 
tract and Bible societies of the various de- 
nominations. Campbell's approval of the 
organization of the new society did not 
save it from the assaults of many of his 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 24 1 

brethren. The enemies of the society went 
back to the Christian Baptist for their most 
effective epithets against the new scheme, 
and Alexander Campbell of 1823 was ar- 
rayed against Alexander Campbell of 1849. 
While he distinguished between the mis- 
sionary purpose and the missionary plan 
in his early diatribes, and aimed them at the 
latter, the enemies of all missionary work 
applied them to both alike. His support of 
the new society was frank, open, and posi- 
tive, and he did not hesitate to accept the 
office and honor of first president imposed 
upon him in his absence by his brethren 
in the convention at Cincinnati which 
created it. 

The struggle for organized missionary 
work among the Disciples was begun, and 
progress was contested at every step by a 
bitter and relentless opposition, which be- 
came a party within the ranks with its 
leaders and newspapers. The first leader 
of the anti-missionary element was Jacob 



242 The Disciples of Christ 

Creath, Jr. Scattered throughout the ranks 
of the denomination were many individuals 
and churches which joined in the cry against 
"human innovations." The society with 
its "money basis " and delegated member- 
ship was feared as the beginning of apos- 
tasy from a pure New Testament Congrega- 
tionalism. The convention which met to 
create the society was taxed to the utmost 
in its ingenuity to avoid the various rocks 
of offense in the course before it. It found 
it impossible to please everybody, no mat- 
ter how hard it might try. Even the friends 
of organized cooperation were not pleased 
with some articles in the constitution, 
though they offered no objection to the so- 
ciety as such. The one article which gave 
more offense than any other, and continued 
to give trouble down to 1881, was "Article 
III," which read as follows: "The society 
shall be composed of annual delegates, life 
members and life directors. Any church 
may appoint a delegate for an annual con- 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 243 

tribution of ten dollars. Twenty dollars 
paid at one time shall be requisite to consti- 
tute a member for life; and one hundred 
dollars paid at one time, or a sum which in 
addition to any previous contributions shall 
amount to one hundred dollars, shall be re- 
quired to constitute a director for life." 
This was the "money basis" of the so- 
ciety and created ' ' the moneyed aristocracy " 
so much feared in the missionary work of the 
church. Each church was invited to become 
an auxiliary to the society by making a con- 
tribution and sending a delegate to the an- 
nual convention. When this invitation 
came to the church in Connellsville, Penn- 
sylvania, it drew up a series of resolutions 
against the society, embodying its objec- 
tions. While favoring the purpose of the 
society to carry the gospel to all men, it 
was opposed to the society and its plan. 
The second resolution stated its position as 
follows: "That we consider the church of 
Jesus Christ, in virtue of the commission 



244 The Disciples of Christ 

given her by our blessed Lord, the only 
scriptural organization on earth for the con- 
version of sinners and the sanctification of 
believers." These resolutions became the 
model and voiced the sentiments of all 
other churches opposed to the society. 

All the officers of the society served 
without salary until 1857, when Benjamin 
Franklin, as secretary, was the first to be 
paid a salary. In his report to the board he 
said: " There has been strong prejudice 
against the missionary society. This we 
have labored to counteract, and I think, to a 
considerable extent it has abated." After 
holding the office one year he was succeeded 
by Isaac Errett. From the time he severed 
his relation with the society he began to op- 
pose it, and opposition in one point broad- 
ened to include every point, until he stood 
opposed to the very idea of organized mis- 
sionary work. He became the leader of the 
anti-missionary forces, and by voice and 
pen, as editor of the American Christian 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 245 

Review, he menaced and cramped the work 
of the society until 1870. His paper be- 
came the most influential next to the Mil- 
lennial Harbinger. He succeeded in creat- 
ing a party among the Disciples which con- 
sistently opposed every agency and expedi- 
ency in the church, from the missionary 
society to organs and tuning forks, for 
which there was not express scriptural pre- 
cept or example. This party was the log- 
ical outgrowth of the literal principle of in- 
terpretation and dated back to the first defi- 
nition of primitive Christianity as an order 
of things. The opponents of the society 
forced it to change its constitution from 
time to time until 1869, when it was forced 
to adopt " The Louisville Plan " to conciliate 
the opposition. Instead of bringing "har- 
mony and peace to the brotherhood" it 
brought poverty and helplessness to the 
society, and in 1881, it was superseded by 
the present plan which was a return to the 
original money basis of control. It was 



246 The Disciples of Christ 

felt that there was no longer use of trying 
to harmonize the elements, as had been 
done at the expense of the missionary cause 
for thirty years, since the anti-missionary 
party had taken up a position of irreconci- 
lable opposition and was practically out of 
fellowship with the larger missionary party. 
It could now afford to ignore it, which it 
has steadily done to the present time, with 
an ever increasing fund in the treasury. 

In the midst of the missionary contro- 
versy, the slavery question loomed large 
upon the horizon and disturbed the councils 
of the Disciples. The body was distributed 
over both the North and the South, prob- 
ably with a larger element in those states 
committed to slaveholding or which were 
divided over the question. Few of the de- 
nominations escaped the influence of the 
question; several suffered division on ac- 
count of it. There had been unity and co- 
operation between the churches of both 
North and South so long as the slavery 






The Rise of Internal Controversy 247 

question was not forced upon them for de- 
cisive action, When the Civil War broke 
out, all eyes turned towards Bethany, Vir- 
ginia, to know which side Alexander Camp- 
bell would take in the struggle. He had 
defined his position on the slavery question 
as early as 1846, and held that the relation 
of master and slave was sanctioned by the 
New Testament, but not the institution as 
existing in America or any other country. 
He said: "I have always been anti-slavery, 
but never an abolitionist "—a position which 
many persons in the South held, but which 
was felt to be inconsistent by the extreme 
anti-slavery men of the North. He was 
opposed to the Civil War and all war as 
unchristian, and thought the question at 
issue ought to be settled by arbitration. 
The attitude of neutrality which he assumed 
towards the conflict between North and 
South did much to moderate the spirit 
among the Disciples and save them from 
the division which was threatening. 



248 The Disciples of Christ 

The preachers among the Disciples in 
Missouri took formal action with respect to 
the conflict by issuing a circular, "Concern- 
ing the Duties of Christians in this Conflict," 
in which they declared that Christians ought 
not to go to war. Among those who signed 
the document were B. H. Smith, J. W. 
McGarvey, T. M. Allen and T. P. Haley. 
There were three questions under discussion 
in religious circles at the time: first, as to 
whether a Christian should go to war; 
second, as to whether the southern states 
had a right to secede; and third, as to 
whether slavery should be abolished. It 
was possible for many Christian people to 
take refuge behind the first, and remain 
non-committal with respect to the others. 
The question found its way into the con- 
vention of the missionary society in 1861, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, in a resolution by J. P. 
Robinson of Ohio, calling upon " the breth- 
ren everywhere to do all in their power to 
sustain the proper and constitutional au- 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 249 

thority of the Union." The resolution was 
lost. Reports began to be circulated that 
the Disciples and the missionary society in 
particular were "to a certain degree disloyal 
to the government of the United States." 
At the meeting of the society in 1-863 reso_ 
lutions were adopted declaring allegiance to 
the government and tendering sympathies 
to the soldiers in the field who were de- 
fending the country from the attempt of 
armed traitors to overthrow the govern- 
ment. This action cut off from the society 
the support of the southern churches, and 
rendered it comparatively bankrupt. When 
President Lincoln proclaimed the emanci- 
pation of the slaves in 1862 the bond which 
bound the northern and southern churches 
together was strained almost to the break- 
ing point. But it did not break, and the 
war closed with the denomination in the 
North and South united in the bonds of 
Christian love and service. It was cause 
for unfeigned rejoicing, and was due in 



250 The Disciples of Christ 

large measure to the Christian wisdom of 
the members in the two sections, the moder- 
ation of the leaders, but more to the con- 
gregational form of government which 
prevented any action in the body as a 
whole. 

The organ controversy was the missionary 
controversy in a new form, for both grew 
out of the opposition to human innovations 
in the work and worship of the church. 
Most churches were without musical instru- 
ments in their public worship down to the 
middle of the century. The controversy 
broke out in i860 through the introduction 
of a melodeon into the services of the church 
at Midway, Kentucky, then in charge of 
Dr. L. L. Pinkerton. Benjamin Franklin as 
editor of the American Christian Review, 
led in the attack upon the innovation. He 
was opposed to it as ministering to the 
pride and worldliness of the churches, as 
without the sanction of New Testament 
precept or example, and consequently as 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 251 

unscriptural and sinful. Franklin and those 
who shared his view refused to worship or 
hold membership in a church that used an 
organ. Through his influence the old ene- 
mies of the missionary society were lined 
up against the organ. The thing that in- 
tensified the warfare was the element of 
conscience which entered into it. The 
organ party treated it as a question of ex- 
pediency on which there should be forbear- 
ance and liberty. The anti-party treated it 
as a matter of principle. With the gradual 
improvement in the music of the churches 
through the use of an organ in leading, and 
the introduction of choirs, the older con- 
gregational method began to appear rude 
and old-fashioned, and offended the culti- 
vated and modern tastes of the younger 
members. As the churches introduced the 
organ more widely, the greater need there 
seemed to be for it, and the progressive, 
modern elements grew impatient of the ob- 
jections of the more conservative and forced 



252 The Disciples of* Christ 

it into the worship against their consent. 
There were many divisions in churches, and 
it was not uncommon to see two churches 
in a community — the one using the organ, 
the other without it — but alike in all other 
respects. 

Isaac Errett became the leader of the pro- 
gressive party, and through the pages of 
the Christian Standard, after its establish- 
ment in 1866, favored and promoted every 
helpful expedient in the work of the church. 
It was he who fought the battle of the mis- 
sionary society, and reminded his brethren 
in 1867 that the Standard was the only 
weekly paper advocating missionary so- 
cieties. Against him were the Gospel Ad- 
vocate and the American Christian Review, 
and to them was added in 1869 the Apostolic 
Times under the editorship of Moses E. Lard, 
L. B. Wilkes, Robert Graham, W. H. Hop- 
son, and J. W. McGarvey, established with 
the avowed purpose of resisting the tide set- 
ting in favor of modern methods and or- 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 253 

ganizations in church work. The new paper 
opened its batteries at once upon the Chris- 
tian Standard to which Errett replied : 
"Our editorial brethren of the Times are, 
with us, guilty of a great innovation in 
publishing a weekly religious newspaper; 
and if they do this as children of God, they 
are doing what they well know has neither 
a divine command nor an approved prece- 
dent to support it. When they preach they 
go into a meeting house, which is an inno- 
vation, and give out a hymn, which istm 
innovation, and this hymn is sung to a 
tune, which is an innovation, by the aid of 
a tune-book and a tune-fork, which are 
innovations." 

As a result of these differences, divisions 
and separations took place in churches be- 
tween i860 and 1880 which formed a sepa- 
rate party, that has gone on establishing 
papers and schools and churches. They 
regard the Disciples as corrupt and apostate 
and will have no fellowship with them. 



254 The Disciples of Christ 

They insist upon the abandonment of all 
missionary organizations and expedients in 
church work, as a condition of fellowship 
and cooperation with them. They sub- 
mitted a "Memorial" to the Convention of 
the Disciples which met in Nashville in 
1892, calling upon them to " abandon their 
organizations that found no necessity or 
recognition in apostolic times, for the sake 
of union and cooperation. " Their strength 
lies principally in Indiana, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Arkansas, and Texas. They have 
planted missions among the Indians, and in 
Turkey and Japan, which they support by 
voluntary contributions without the media- 
tion of a "human society." 

In these controversies the scheme of Chris- 
tian union as advocated by the Disciples 
received its second critical test, and met 
with its second failure. Unity was wrecked 
in both cases upon the same rock — a literal 
application of the principle, "Where the 
Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 255 

silent, we are silent," to the interpretation 
of primitive Christianity. The failure to 
preserve unity within their own ranks was 
a serious blow to the Disciples, but it did 
not shake their confidence in the principle 
of Christian union. They went on preach- 
ing union upon the Bible alone while their 
churches were dividing over the interpreta- 
tion of the Bible. They still believed that 
the separation of matters of faith from mat- 
ters of opinion was a true principle of unity, 
although they were unable to make a sepa- 
ration satisfactory to both parties. The 
anti-organ party said the use of an organ in 
public worship was a matter of faith, the 
organ party said it was a matter of opinion 
and expediency. They could not agree and 
separated. 

At this juncture Isaac Errett appeared 
upon the stage of action, full of wisdom 
and experience, with a timely message to 
the confused and distracted body. He had 
been for several years one of the trusted 



256 The Disciples of Christ 

and honored leaders among his brethren; 
and as preacher, writer and thinker, as sec- 
retary of the missionary society in its most 
critical period, as teacher in Hiram College, 
as co-editor of the Harbinger, he had demon- 
strated that he possessed the essential ele- 
ments of leadership. He had already held 
every position of trust and honor among the 
Disciples, before he was made first editor of 
the Christian Standard in 1866. The year 
that the Standard was established was the 
year in which the great leader, Alexander 
Campbell, died; and by common consent 
of his brethren, after they had recovered 
from the first shock of the loss, Isaac 
Errett took his place of leadership. He 
sounded a new note when he announced 
his purposes as editor to be: "(1) the 
turning of the world to Christ; (2) the 
union of believers in the fellowship of the 
gospel; (3) the education of Christians into 
a nobler spiritual life." 
The Disciples had been progressively re- 



The Rise of Internal Controversy 257 

storing primitive Christianity as they pro- 
gressively grasped it as an order of things, 
then as a missionary enterprise ; but it was 
left for Isaac Errett to propose to restore 
primitive Christianity as a spirit of things. 
He began to emphasize the spirit over 
against the letter. Unity based on the letter 
of the New Testament had failed; he saw 
new hope for a unity based on the spirit of 
the New Testament. He saw that the 
Disciples could go no further in their em- 
phasis upon the letter of Christianity than 
the anti-organ party had gone. As literal- 
ists they were more consistent, but not per- 
fectly consistent, for they also used many 
innovations in public worship. The ex- 
travagances of this party produced a reac- 
tion in the direction of a more spiritual 
definition of Christianity, and gave the 
principle of union a new meaning. He 
signalized the change of emphasis that was 
called for by the experiences of the past by 



258 The Disciples of Christ 

saying in 1868: "Let the bond of union 
among the baptized be Christian character 
in place of orthodoxy — right doing in place 
of exact thinking." 



CHAPTER XII 

MISSIONARY ORGANIZATION 

By 1850 the Disciples of Christ had grown 
to be a body numbering nearly 200,000, and 
were distributed widely throughout the 
states. On account of the strict independ- 
ency of church government among them, 
cooperative work was very slowly devel- 
oped, and often under severe opposition, 
from fear of creating ecclesiastical organiza- 
tions likely to become a menace to freedom. 
The various missionary, Bible, and educa- 
tional enterprises that had sprung up among 
them grew out of individual or local initia- 
tive. They would countenance nothing but 
the freest and loosest kind of cooperation. 
The widest cooperations thus far were those 
of state churches for work in their own bor- 
ders. But there was work to be done be- 
yond the borders of states for which there 
259 



260 The Disciples of Christ 

was no provision. Some enterprises, such 
as the educational and foreign missionary, 
which were general, could only be carried 
on by general support. The advisability of 
providing an agency for doing something for 
the general causes of education, missions, 
and Bible circulation, was discussed for 
many months in the papers and finally is- 
sued in a call for a general convention, to 
be held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in October, 
1849. 

Of the one hundred and fifty-five dele- 
gates which composed the convention, 
some were appointed at state meetings of 
churches to represent the various states, 
some were appointed by local churches, 
and others came on their own motion. No 
one had any authority to do anything that 
would bind the churches sending them. 
They were simply sent as representatives to 
confer and suggest, but if they organized 
no one could be a member of the organiza- 
tion but those who voluntarily joined. 



Missionary Organization 261 

After wrestling with the problem of the 
scope of their business as a convention, 
they finally settled to the serious task of 
missionary organization. They started in 
to settle a variety of questions troubling the 
churches, such as the ordination of minis- 
ters, the discipline of unworthy ministers, 
the organization of Sunday-schools, and the 
publication of a Sunday-school library. 
During the five days of the convention they 
discussed fifty-eight different resolutions 
upon a wide range of subjects and interests, 
many of which they concluded did not be- 
long to their business. The one thing which 
came out of their deliberations was the or- 
ganization of the American Christian Mis- 
sionary Society. They drafted a constitution 
providing for a board of managers for the 
foreign field and a board for the home field; 
for annual delegates, life-members and life- 
directors, according to the amount of money 
paid into the treasury. The following lead- 
ing men were present in the convention: 



262 The Disciples of Christ 

D. S. Burnet (chairman of convention), 
W. K. Pendleton, John O'Kane, Elijah Good- 
win, James Challen, John T. Johnson, L. L. 
Pinkerton, Benjamin Franklin, J. J. Moss, 
T. J. Melish, Walter Scott, B. U. Watkins, 
and James Mathes. The society was regu- 
larly incorporated in the state of Ohio in 
1850. 

The first work which the society under- 
took was the sending of Dr. J. T. Barclay 
as a missionary to Jerusalem. This field 
was selected for reasons that were largely 
sentimental. The mission was interrupted 
in 1854, and finally abandoned during the 
Civil War, on the ground that, "The field 
was as sterile as the rock on which Jerusalem 
is built." The only other foreign mission 
undertaken by the society was in Jamaica 
in 1858: and after the organization of the 
Foreign Christian Missionary Society in 
1875 it confined its operations exclusively 
to the home field. The offering for the first 
year, under James Challen as secretary, was 



Missionary Organization 263 

$2,496.79; the largest offering between 1850 
and 1884, was in the year i860, under Isaac 
Errett as secretary, when $15,831.25 were 
contributed; the largest offering in the his- 
tory of the society was in 1899, under Ben- 
jamin L. Smith as secretary, when $115,- 
004.00 were contributed. The total amount 
of money raised to 1903 was $1,383,611.11. 
It has organized through its missionaries 
2,848 churches, and has brought 138,960 
persons into the churches by baptism. 
During 1904, $85,755.96 were contributed, 
225 churches were organized, and 16,861 
persons were baptized by its missionaries. 
Its work lies principally in the states where 
the Disciples have few churches, and in the 
larger cities. In 1903 the convention created 
a Bureau of Evangelization under the man- 
agement of the society, to devote its atten- 
tion to evangelism in the cities, to reenforce 
the general evangelism of the body by pro- 
ducing a literature and holding assemblies 
on modern evangelistic methods. Besides 



264 The Disciples of Christ 

the general society, each state has its own 
local missionary society for work within 
the state, which should be included in home 
missionary work. The amount of money 
raised by these state societies for 1904 was 
$226,633.67. 

The American Christian Missionary So- 
ciety was the pioneer in the struggle for or- 
ganized missionary work among the Disci- 
ples, and consequently bore all the blows 
and suffered all the experiments incident to 
pioneer work. By 1874, when the next 
general society was organized, the idea of 
missionary work through organized societies 
had won a place in the program of the Dis- 
ciples. When the severest of its battles 
were over, the era of specialization in mis- 
sionary work began in the organization of 
the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. 
This society was organized at the General 
Convention of the Disciples in Cincinnati, 
in 1874, to utilize the consecration and 
services of the women of the churches in 



Missionary Organization 265 

cultivating a missionary spirit, encouraging 
missionary efforts, disseminating missionary 
intelligence, and securing systematic con- 
tributions for missionary purposes. With 
Mrs. C. N. Pearre originated the sugges- 
tion of an organization among the women 
of the Disciples for missionary purposes. 
To Isaac Errett and his interest and ad- 
vocacy, belongs the credit for its actual 
organization. The plan was to band to- 
gether the women of the churches in 
" auxiliary societies " which should become 
feeders of the society's treasury. It has 
demonstrated the value of systematic giv- 
ing, for it has taken the " monthly dues" 
of ten cents from each of the members of 
its auxiliaries and has swelled them from a 
total contribution of $1,200.35 the first year, 
to $167,084.72 in 1904. The total receipts 
for thirty years amount to $1,468,721.73. 
It supported two missionaries the first year 
and 287 missionaries in 1904. It had a total 
membership of 41,211 women in its aux- 



266 The Disciples of Christ 

iliaries in 1904, through which it reached 
600,000 women in the churches. Its field 
of work covers all forms of missionary 
service — educational, medical, and evan- 
gelistic — both home and foreign — among 
women and children. It is doing work in 
thirty states of the Union, in Mexico, Porto 
Rico, Jamaica, and India. It has 500 chil- 
dren in its orphanages, 3,000 pupils in its 
schools, and treats thousands of sick in its 
hospitals. The Society has developed a 
new form of missionary service, and was 
the first to introduce Bible instruction into 
state universities. The inauguration and 
development of this work in its first stages 
were due to the leadership of C. A. Young 
and H. L. Willett. The later development 
has been carried on under the leadership of 
Geo. P. Coler, W. M. Forrest, and W. C. 
Payne. The first Bible Chair was estab- 
lished in 1893 at the University of Michigan 
(Ann Arbor); the second Chair, in 1899 at 
the University of Virginia (Charlottsville); 



Missionary Organization 267 

the third Chair, in 1900 at the University of 
Calcutta, India; the fourth Chair, in 1901 at 
the University of Kansas (Lawrence). The 
Chairs at Ann Arbor and Charlottsville have 
been endowed with permanent funds of 
$25,000 each. These Bible Chairs provide 
instruction in the English Bible for students 
in the state universities, and have not only 
served the purpose of placing the lit- 
erature and history of the Bible alongside 
of the Greek and Latin literatures for the 
intellectual and moral benefit of the students, 
but they have served to foster the re- 
ligious life in many young persons and 
to turn some to ministerial and mission- 
ary service. The multitudes of young 
men and young women in the state 
institutions without religious instruction 
in their courses of study, proved to be a 
ripened field for the society which it 
has been quick to appreciate. As rapidly 
as possible it is projecting the work 
into all of the larger state universities. 



268 The Disciples of Christ 

Other denominations are following the ex- 
ample. 

In the further development of specialized 
missionary activity the Foreign Christian 
Missionary Society was organized in 1875, 
to do work solely in heathen lands. 
Opposition to societies had prevented the 
American Society from doing anything 
either at home or abroad, but the wisdom 
of specialization and division of the field 
to utilize the effectiveness of the foreign 
appeal was recognized, and resulted in the 
creation of the Foreign Society at the Con- 
vention of the Disciples at Louisville, in 
1875. The leading spirits in this new enter- 
prise were Isaac Errett, W. T. Moore, B. B. 
Tyler, Thomas Munnell, Robert Moffett, 
A. I. Hobbs, F. M. Green, J. S. Lamar, and 
W. S. Dickinson. Its first president was 
Isaac Errett; its second C. L. Loos, and its 
third A. McLean. Its official management 
and financial basis are similar to the Ameri- 
can Society. It is an independent, volun- 



Missionary Organization 269 

tary society, and looks for support to the 
friends of foreign missions among the 
churches. So indifferent were the Disciples 
to the foreign missionary interests at first 
that the society was unable to find men to 
go to the foreign field. Its first work was 
done in England; its second field was Den- 
mark and the Scandinavian countries; its 
third field was Paris, France; while the first 
work among distinctly non-Christian peo- 
ples was begun in Turkey in 1879. India 
was entered in 1882. In 1904 the society 
was doing work in India, Japan, China, 
Turkey, Africa, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, 
England, Cuba, Hawaiian Islands, Philip- 
pine Islands, and Thibet. The income of 
the society the first year was $1,706.35; in 
1904 the income was $211,318. The total 
amount received by the society since its or- 
ganization is $2,244,151. The whole num- 
ber of missionaries in the service of the 
society at the present time is 143, and of 
native helpers 295, making a total mission- 



's, 



270 The Disciples of Christ 

ary force of 438. The annual income of 
the Foreign Society exceeds that of any 
other missionary society among the Dis- 
ciples. Within three years it had out- 
stripped the pioneer American Society and 
has gone on steadily increasing its receipts, 
taking the lead of all others as the favored 
missionary activity of the denomination. 
It has set the mark to which all others have 
aimed, and it has helped others up as it has 
gone up the ascending scale. This is prob- 
ably due in large measure to the advantage 
of an ideal and persuasive appeal, of which 
it has had the exclusive use; but in some 
measure to the time of the year at which it 
makes its appeal to the churches. It reaps 
the benefit of the year's first missionary 
offering, the first Sunday in March. But 
no account of the society's success would 
be complete which did not take into ac- 
count the wisdom and consecrated leader- 
ship of A. McLean, its secretary for eighteen 
years and its president since 1900. 



Missionary Organization 271 

In the course of its work the American 
Society encountered one serious need of the 
churches with which it dealt — the need of 
houses of worship as a condition of their 
permanence and highest efficiency. Ap- 
peals for loans of money to help them build 
frequently came to the secretary from 
churches too weak to undertake it alone. 
This led to a recommendation by Robert 
Moffett, the secretary, to the convention of 
1883, that a Church Extension Fund be cre- 
ated by the Board to be loaned to churches 
needing help to build. A special committee 
under the Board was created to have this 
work in charge. The receipts the first year 
amounted to $2,105, and by 1887, when a 
secretary was appointed to devote all of his 
time to the work, the fund amounted to 
$5,648.83. A regular Board of Church Ex- 
tension was created in 1888, and was 
located at Kansas City, Mo. The receipts 
of the Board the first year of its history 
were $2,105; * n ! 9°4» under George W. 



2/2 The Disciples of Christ 

Muckley, as secretary, they were $58,- 
988.30. The total amount in the fund at 
the last report (1904) was $435,183.70. It 
has assisted in building 821 churches during 
its existence. With this fund many 
struggling churches have been helped to 
larger life and not a few actually saved 
from death. It has stepped in many times 
to save a valuable property to a church that 
has met with temporary reverses while 
carrying a building debt. In 1892 it in- 
augurated the policy of going into places of 
strategic importance and buying ground in 
growing centres to be held for future church 
building purposes. In 1904 the Board was 
holding lots in commanding locations in 
fifty-six cities of the Union. During its en- 
tire history it has lost on uncollectable debts 
but S563, and has handled in its operations 
$828,454.29. 

The more benevolent side of Christian 
work was not begun by the Disciples as an 
organized national movement until 1895, in 



Missionary Organization 273 

the organization of the Board of Ministerial 
Relief. This work owes its inauguration 
to A. M. Atkinson, a Christian business 
man, who was its first secretary and gave 
himself to its promotion until his death in 
1899. It has for its field of service the care 
of disabled and aged ministers, their widows 
and orphans. While the ministry among 
the Disciples has never received generous 
or even ample support, yet there has not 
been any unusual distress among them. 
The compensation of the early preach- 
ers was notoriously, if not infamously, 
small, and the majority were obliged to en- 
gage in business to eke out a living. Alex- 
ander Campbell had decried the " salaried 
clergy " as a part of the corruption of the 
popular systems of religion until the accept- 
ance of compensation for services on the 
part of ministers was looked upon as a deg- 
radation of the calling. As a result of the 
early tendency to lower the ministerial quali- 
fication, and admit men to the ministry 



2J4 The Disciples of Christ 

without education or training, and the early 
practice of allowing the minister to look out 
for himself in some business calling along 
with his preaching, the ministry among the 
Disciples has been the most poorly paid of 
any of the denominations. Yet the denomi- 
nation did nothing to provide for the period 
of disability in the lives of its ministers until 
1895, and has not yet provided for honora- 
ble retirement under sickness or advanced 
age, such as other denominations have 
done. The Board of Ministerial Relief is 
poorly supported and does not have more 
than $10,000 a year to devote to its work. 
In 1904 its income amounted to $1 1,562. 

The National Benevolent Association was 
organized in 1886, and did work principally 
in St. Louis, Mo.; it did not become 
national in its activities until about 1901 
when it appointed a general secretary to 
urge its cause on behalf of the orphaned 
young and the aged upon the entire de- 
nomination. Since then it has rapidly con- 






Missionary Organization 275 

solidated the local state benevolent enter- 
prises of the Disciples under its auspices, 
and has increased its income from $85 the 
first year, to $77,040.28 in 1904. The as- 
sociation supports two old peoples' homes, 
one at Jacksonville, Illinois, and one at East 
Aurora, New York; a babes' home and 
free hospital, at St. Louis, Mo. ; and orphan- 
ages at St. Louis, Mo., Cleveland, Ohio, 
Dallas, Texas, and Loveland, Colorado. 
The association is entirely under the man- 
agement of Christian women. 

The Disciples have from time to time un- 
dertaken the work of education among the 
negroes of the South. A beginning was 
made in a mission to the Freedmen at the 
close of the Civil War. The Southern Chris- 
tian Institute was organized in 1875 and 
finally established near Edwards, Miss., in 
1882. The Board of Negro Evangelization 
and Education was organized in 1890; C. C. 
Smith was appointed secretary in 1891; 
the Board was merged with the American 



276 The Disciples of Christ 

Society in 1898; and in 1900 it was taken 
under the care of the Christian Woman's 
Board of Missions, as part of the work of 
that society. It supports four schools in 
the South for the education of negroes, and 
for the training of negro ministers. 

A Board of Education was organized in 
1894 and has struggled for ten years to 
make a place for itself in the sympathies of 
the people and in the missionary calendar 
of the churches, with some success. The 
cause of education has not kept pace with 
the development of the missionary enter- 
prises of the Disciples. 

The missionary development of the Dis- 
ciples becomes really impressive when it is 
remembered that in 1873 there was but one 
society with an income of $4,159, contrib- 
uted by a body numbering 450,000 communi- 
cants; while in 1904 there were seven or 
eight societies — missionary, benevolent, and 
educational — with an income of $661,737, 
contributed by a body numbering 1,200,000. 



CHAPTER XIII 

EVANGELISM, JOURNALISM, EDUCATION, AND 
CHURCH GROWTH 

We have seen how one current of the 
movement arose out of an evangelism in 
1803, and how the main current issued in 
an evangelism about 1827. From 1809 to 
1827 the Campbells had established but two 
or three churches through their own efforts, 
and these out of persons already members 
of churches; but as soon as Walter Scott 
made the discovery of the "ancient gos- 
pel " and threw himself into its proclama- 
tion in 1827, new churches sprang up as if 
by magic. Stone and his fellow preachers 
were evangelists to begin with and swept 
rapidly through the states converting per- 
sons and constituting churches. By 1832 
the Disciples were confirmed in their evan- 
gelistic habits through coalition with the 
277 



278 The Disciples of Christ 

Stone movement. Every preacher was an 
evangelist. The aim of every sermon was 
to produce immediate conviction in the un- 
converted among the hearers, and no meet- 
ing closed without giving convicted and 
penitent persons an opportunity to make a 
public confession of their faith in Christ. 
The process of conversion was completed 
by an immersion of the person, after which 
he was received to membership in the 
church, by the " right hand of fellowship." 
This simple and clearly defined evangel- 
istic program, obtained from the practice of 
the apostles as recorded in the Acts of 
Apostles, was learned and followed by 
every preacher from that day to this. It 
made every preacher and church an enlist- 
ment agency. They perfected in their 
method and manner of preaching, as well 
as in their treatment of inquirers and peni- 
tents, an evangelism which was both in- 
stantaneous and effective. The point at 
which many evangelisms break down is in 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 279 

producing assurance in the penitent. A 
doctrine of definite, immediate, and acces- 
sible assurance of salvation underlay their 
"plan of salvation," and brought imme- 
diate relief to burdened souls. They taught 
inquiring sinners that forgiveness was to 
be obtained by obedience to certain com- 
mands. The commands of the gospel were : 
believe, repent and be baptized; and the 
promises were: the remission of sins, the 
gift of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. 
The efficiency of this plan as an evangelism 
was that the person could put himself 
through the process of obedience, and need 
not wait for the Spirit to move him or God 
to elect him. He moved himself, he elected 
himself to eternal life through faith. The 
blessings promised would as surely follow 
obedience, as effect follows cause. If an 
inquirer asked, "What must I do to be 
saved?" the answer was ready: Believe, 
repent and be baptized. It was thus that 
the apostles preached and dealt with peni- 



280 The Disciples of Christ 

tent souls, as in the case of Peter on the 
day of Pentecost, and of Philip with the 
eunuch. These are the so-called " first 
principles " which have played so large a 
part in the preaching and writing of the 
Disciples ; they are simply the primitive, 
apostolic evangelism reproduced in the 
preaching of to-day. The one book with 
which their preachers have been more fa- 
miliar than any other is the Acts of Apostles 
— a book illustrating the methods of the 
primitive evangelists. 

With this evangelistic method in mind 
one does not have far to seek for an expla- 
nation of the rapid growth of the Disciples 
through all of their history. Minister and 
evangelist were for several decades almost 
synonymous terms. The Disciples have 
always regarded themselves as specialists 
in the doctrine and machinery of conver- 
sion. Their ministry has always been an 
evangelistic, recruiting ministry, whether 
itinerant or settled. They have always 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 281 

vied with one another in their efforts to 
excel as winners of converts; and the de- 
nomination has stimulated this talent in its 
ministers by bestowing special honor upon 
its successful achievement. The conse- 
quence is that the denomination has grown 
rapidly from the first, and continues to 
grow. 

With the increase of the churches in 
members and wealth, the pastoral side of 
the ministry was developed to meet the 
needs of Christian nurture, local church 
development, and social service. The fol- 
lowing men distinguished themselves as 
pastors in the early period of the pastoral 
ministry : D. S. Burnet, James Challen, 
W. H. Hopson, L. L. Pinkerton, D. P. Hen- 
derson, L. B. Wilkes, A. S. Hayden, Wm. 
Baxter, Isaac Errett, Thomas Munnell, 
O. A. Burgess, Alexander Proctor, J. A. 
Brooks, J. S. Lamar, Joseph King, David 
Walk, W. T. Moore, J. S. Sweeney, and 
T. P. Haley. To these men and many 



282 The Disciples of Christ 

others like them, the churches owed their 
deeper and broader development in Chris- 
tian faith and beneficence, as well as their 
gradual increase in membership and in- 
fluence in the community. They were 
succeeded by a younger generation of 
pastors, equally worthy and successful, 
such as B. B. Tyler, J. Z. Tyler, R. T. 
Matthews, F. D. Power, J. M. Trible, 
A. I. Hobbs, George Darsie, A. N. Gilbert, 
Jabez Hall, J. J. Haley, I. J. Spencer, and 
D. R. Lucas. Connected with the transi- 
tion from the earlier evangelistic to the 
later pastoral ministry, was a form of 
specialization or division of labor between 
the pastor and evangelist. It was recog- 
nized that the two kinds of service — the 
enlisting of converts, and the training of 
converts — called for two kinds of talent, 
not often joined in a high degree in the 
same person. Hence arose the " profes- 
sional evangelist/' who was especially 
qualified to hold " protracted meetings," 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 283 

and did little else. One of the earliest, 
greatest and most honored of this type 
of evangelist was Knowles Shaw. He 
was born in Ohio in 1834, and was killed 
in a railroad wreck in Texas, in 1878. He 
was gifted with rare musical talent, which 
in youth he used to enliven social gather- 
ings in the neighborhood of his home, but 
in later life used with marvellous power 
in revival meetings. He was preacher and 
singing evangelist in one. In his most 
successful meetings he had as many as 
two hundred and fifty conversions in the 
course of four or five weeks. More recent 
evangelists of the type of Knowles Shaw, 
such as j. V. Updike, H. A. Northcutt, 
J. H. O. Smith, J. V. Coombs, Chas. Reign 
Scoville, Allen Wilson, and W. E. Harlow, 
have been even more successful — the num- 
ber of converts in a single meeting some- 
times surpassing four or five hundred. 

While the evangelism of the Disciples 
has had its most direct bearings upon their 



284 The Disciples of Christ 

growth, yet it has influenced to a remark- 
able degree the character of their literature. 
The bulk of their literature consists of books 
of sermons and tracts. The Disciples have 
never forgotten that they were propagand- 
ists of "peculiar views," which have al- 
ways furnished them with texts for preach- 
ing and writing. The printed sermons are, 
as a rule, little more than tracts upon the 
various phases of denominational doctrine or 
practice. A few sermonizers have attempted 
excursions into the field of general Chris- 
tian culture with some success. Aside 
from Alexander Campbell's writings, the 
books which have been most read are 
the sermons of Benjamin Franklin; while 
more recently the writings of Isaac Errett, 
Robert Richardson, J. S. Lamar, Robert 
Milligan, J. W. McGarvey, B. B. Tyler, 
A. McLean, J. H. Garrison, W. T. Moore, 
and F. D. Power, have been widely read 
and have exerted a notable influence 
upon the movement. Isaac Errett's tract, 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 285 

Our Position, has been read by the thou- 
sands and remains unequalled as a state- 
ment of the position of the Disciples in 
relation to other religious bodies. 

Evangelism has also deeply influenced 
the doctrine and life of the Disciples. The 
doctrine of assurance through obedience 
propagated in all their evangelistic preach- 
ing, was easily understood and readily 
seized upon as a balm for a distressed 
conscience. The satisfaction which was 
found in baptism, and in the scriptural 
guarantee of correctness, loosed many per- 
sons from the inner pain of spiritual imper- 
fection and gave them security in external 
obedience to commands. It was this legal- 
istic conception of Christian duty and serv- 
ice which partly accounts for the slow re- 
ception of the missionary enterprise, and 
for the tardy acceptance of the duty of 
social service. 

Reference has been made from time to 
time in these pages to various periodicals, 



286 The Disciples of Christ 

monthly and weekly, which have played so 
large a part in the history. As promoters 
of the cause without and as moulders of 
thought and leaders of action within, the 
editors and newspapers have stood second 
only to the ministry. Alexander Campbell 
was the first editor and set the example of 
an efficient journalism in the Christian Bap- 
tist and Millennial Harbinger. They had 
their imitators in a score of similar period- 
icals before 1830, and from that time to 
this, scores have been established, and have 
gone their way after a brief career. They 
have not always reproduced the best side of 
their prototypes, but they have not failed to 
do valiant, and often militant, service on 
behalf of the cause they espoused. Every 
leader, and every one who aspired to lead- 
ership, has in some way and at some time 
been connected with a newspaper. While 
at various times they have been the instru- 
ments through which internal feuds and 
parties have been created, yet no great mis- 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 287 

sionary, benevolent, or educational cause 
has arisen and succeeded without the help 
of a journal. 

When a journal has grown to a position 
of universal influence, its power for good 
or evil has been greater than that of any 
man or group of men. They have conse- 
quently made and unmade many indi- 
viduals and causes. In a pure Congrega- 
tionalism, such as exists among the Dis- 
ciples, the newspapers came nearer being 
authoritative oracles and tribunals than any 
other organized institution. Two papers in 
the recent period have succeeded to the 
wide influence of the Baptist and Harbinger 
in the early period — the Christian Standard, 
under the editorship of Isaac Errett, and the 
Christian Evangelist, under the editorship 
of J. H. Garrison. The Standard was the 
sole product of the spirit and genius of 
Isaac Errett, and was the exponent of a more 
liberal and spiritual order of things until the 
death of the editor in 1888. As the friend 



288 The Disciples of Christ 

and advocate of missionary societies, instru- 
ments of music in public worship, and a 
more cordial relation with other religious 
bodies, he fell under the suspicion of being 
too liberal. He drew around him men of 
the broadest spirit and some of the best 
writers of the church, and set an example 
of the highest and best religious journalism. 
The simplicity, modesty, and dignity of his 
character, the catholicity and unselfishness 
of his spirit, constituted him the greatest 
leader since Alexander Campbell. After his 
death his paper fell into the hands of men 
of a different spirit. Men who had op- 
posed Isaac Errett in his day became influ- 
ential in the direction of its policy and spoke 
behind his authority in the columns of his 
paper upon the new questions and problems 
that had arisen. Upon some of the old 
questions the paper continued to speak as 
Isaac Errett had spoken, and when it spoke 
upon the new questions many people 
thought it was Isaac Errett still speaking. 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 289 

Upon all new questions of biblical criticism 
and denominational policy and mission, it 
has taken a conservative, reactionary posi- 
tion. 

The Christian Evangelist has had a com- 
plicated ancestral history. After the con- 
solidation of many papers in many states 
covering a period of many years, it took 
form in 1882 under the editorship of 
B. W. Johnson and J. H. Garrison and 
was published at St. Louis, Missouri. 
In 1894, upon the death of B. W. John- 
son, J. H. Garrison became sole editor. 
The editor was a man of spiritual vision, 
and desired for the Disciples a larger 
spiritual life and a larger place in the 
world's religious work. He joined hands 
with Isaac Errett in the task of delivering 
the body from legalism and a narrow sec- 
tarianism, and of promoting every mission- 
ary and educational cause which foretokened 
spiritual emancipation. He has consistently 
stood for larger liberty, for hospitality to- 



290 The Disciples of Christ 

wards new truth, and for the practice of 
Christian union in every form of coopera- 
tion with other denominations. J. H. Gar- 
rison succeeded to the religious leadership 
laid down by Isaac Errett at his death. 

These journals, with a multitude of others, 
have taught the position of the Disciples 
week by week in their columns, and have 
defended it against criticism and objection; 
have opened their columns to the advocacy 
of the various missionary societies, educa- 
tional institutions, and benevolent enter- 
prises, and have thus unified the sentiment 
and concerted the action of ministers and 
churches with reference to them; have 
chosen and guided the denominational atti- 
tude towards many questions and its policy 
with reference to many enterprises; and 
have been indispensable agencies in the in- 
terrelation and effective workings of the 
various organizations, interests, and forces 
of the body. The influential editor occupies 
a place of generalship and superintendence 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 291 

over the widely separated parts of the de- 
nominational army. With few exceptions 
journalism among the Disciples has been 
wise, conscientious, and progressive, and 
the present state of unity and efficiency 
among them is due in no small degree to in- 
telligent and responsible editorship. In 
1904 the Disciples were publishing twenty- 
seven general newspapers, the most widely 
circulating of which were: the Christian 
Standard, of Cincinnati; the Christian 
Evangelist, of St. Louis; the Christian Cen- 
tury, of Chicago; the Christian Compan- 
ion, of Louisville; the Christian Courier, of 
Dallas; the Christian Union, of Des Moines, 
and the Pacific Christian of San Francisco, 
all of which are weekly papers. 

Education among the Disciples began as 
an effort to supply the churches with an 
educated ministry. The early leaders, 
Campbell, Scott and Stone, were educated 
men and recognized the value of education 
for the ministry. The emphasis was laid 



292 The Disciples of Christ 

upon the minister's training in the knowl- 
edge and use of the English Bible. The 
study of theology, as usually carried on in 
theological seminaries, was held in small 
favor. When Alexander Campbell under- 
took the task of establishing a school for 
the training of ministers, he founded a col- 
lege and made the Bible a text-book along 
with text-books in the sciences and arts. 
At the close of his college course a young 
man was ready to begin to preach without 
any further preparation. No provision was 
made, and none thought necessary, for 
special, professional training beyond the 
college course. Theological seminary and 
college were merged in one. Such a school 
served the ends not only of ministerial train- 
ing but of general Christian education for 
the sons and daughters in the families of 
Disciples, and thus made a double appeal to 
the churches. To serve this twofold pur- 
pose, Bethany College was founded by 
Alexander Campbell, at Bethany, West 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 293 

Virginia, in 1840. With similar purposes in 
view Hiram College was founded at Hiram, 
Ohio, in 1850; Butler College, at Indianapo- 
lis, Indiana, in 1850; Eureka College, at 
Eureka, Illinois, in 1855; Christian Univer- 
sity, at Canton, Missouri, in 1853 (the first 
college in the United States to grant women 
equal privileges with men); Oskaloosa Col- 
lege, at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1856; Kentucky 
University, at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in 
1858. With the removal of Kentucky 
University to Lexington in 1865, specialized 
ministerial education was begun among the 
Disciples in the organization of the Bible 
College as a separate college of the Univer- 
sity. Other colleges began to separate min- 
isterial studies from the college course and 
to offer specialized elective courses which 
could be pursued as post-graduate work. 
When Drake University was opened at Des 
Moines, Iowa, in 1881, the Bible Depart- 
ment was separated from the other depart- 
ments. More recently the Disciples have 



294 The Disciples of Christ 

established other colleges, such as, Texas 
Christian University (originally Add Ran 
College, located at Thorpe's Springs, but in 
1890 changed to Add Ran Christian Univer- 
sity, and in 1895 moved to Waco, where it 
became Texas Christian University); and 
Cotner University established at Lincoln, 
Nebraska in 1889. Besides these leading 
institutions there were in 1905, thirty-five 
different educational institutions of all 
grades, controlled by the Disciples or 
conducted in their interest or under their 
name, in the United States. The aggregate 
value of their property was $2,459,000 ; 
the value of their endowment, $1, 968,000; 
the total number of students in attendance, 
5,819, 868 of whom were preparing for the 
ministry. 

In spite of the meagre support and inade- 
quate equipment of these colleges, they 
have been one of the most important fac- 
tors in the growth and development of the 
Disciples. They have stood close to the 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 295 

churches, and have met their first and most 
pressing need, in giving them educated 
ministers. They have demonstrated their 
value and necessity to the churches by 
numbering among their graduates the lead- 
ing workers in every department of work 
— evangelists, pastors, teachers, editors, and 
missionaries. The leaders of thought and 
action since the first college was founded 
have come from the colleges. Many fields 
of work are always waiting for the coming 
of the properly equipped man. This is true 
preeminently of missionary and educational 
work, and pastoral work in the larger cities. 
The quiet, accumulative influence of the 
great teachers of the colleges has never 
been sufficiently recognized or honored. 
To the first generation of teachers who 
have had an incalculable influence upon the 
movement, belong W. K. Pendleton, who 
was professor in Bethany College from 
1 84 1 to 1887, and president from 1866 to 
1887; Robert Richardson who was pro- 



296 The Disciples of Christ 

fessor in Bethany College from 1841 to 
1859, the biographer of Campbell, co-editor 
of the Harbinger, and author of Office of 
the Holy Spirit, and other works; Silas E. 
Shepard, who was president of Hiram Col- 
lege from 1867 to 1870; and S. K. Hoshour, 
who was president of Butler College from 
1858 to 1861, and afterwards professor of 
modern languages in the same institution. 

The first generation was succeeded by a 
second generation of educators, composed 
of a large and brilliant company of men of 
the deepest piety and consecration, many 
of whom distinguished themselves first as 
preachers and never lost touch with the 
pulpit. A few are still living, and are the 
last connecting links with the pioneer 
days of education. Robert Milligan was 
professor in Bethany College, 1854-59; 
president of Kentucky University, 1859-66; 
the first president of the College of the 
Bible, 1866-75 (the year of his death); 
co-editor of the Harbinger and author 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 297 

of the Scheme of Redemption, Reason 
and Revelation, and other works. Robert 
Graham was president, of Kentucky Uni- 
versity, 1866-69; president of Hamilton 
College, 1869-75; president of the College 
of the Bible, 1875-95, and professor of 
philosophy in the College of Arts until 
1898. He died in 1901. James A. Garfield 
was a teacher in Hiram College with brief 
intermissions, 1852-66. He died as presi- 
dent of the United States in 1881. B. A. 
Hinsdale was president of Hiram College, 
1870-82; superintendent of schools in 
Cleveland, 1882-86; professor in the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, 1888 to the time of his 
death in 1900. George T. Carpenter was 
president of Oskaloosa College, 1861-81; 
organizer and chancellor of Drake Univer- 
sity, 1881-93. J. M. Atwaterwas president 
of Hiram College, 1868-70, and served as 
professor for longer or shorter periods in 
Eureka College and other institutions and 
died in 1900. H. W. Everest was a 



298 The Disciples of Christ 

teacher in Hiram College, 1855-62; presi- 
dent of Eureka College, 1864-72, and 
1877-81; president of Butler College, 
1881-86; dean of the College of the Bible, 
Drake University, from 1897 to his death in 
1900. He was the author of a book on the 
evidences of Christianity called The Di- 
vine Demonstration. D. R. Dungan was 
professor in the Bible Department, Drake 
University, 1883-90; president of Cotner 
University, 1890-96. He is still living and 
is dean of the Bible Department of Drake 
University. He is the author of several 
books, the best known of which is, On the 
Rock. J. W. McGarvey is still living and 
has been connected with the Bible College, 
as professor from 1865 to 1895, an d as pres- 
ident from 1895 to the present time. He is 
the author of Commentary on the Acts, and 
other works on biblical criticism. B. J. 
Radford was professor in Eureka College 
and part of the time president, 1870-81; 
president of Drake University, 1882-83; anc * 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 299 

professor in Eureka College from 1892 to 
the present time. C. L. Loos was presi- 
dent of Eureka College, T857-58; professor 
in Bethany College, 1858-80; president of 
Kentucky University, 1880-97; and pro- 
fessor in the same institution from 1897 to 
the present time. 

Evangelism, journalism, and education 
have had principally to do with the growth, 
the present state and character, of the Dis- 
ciples of Christ. The growth of the body 
was assured from the beginning of its 
separate existence. In 1850 the number of 
communicants, as given by unfriendly 
calculators, was 118,000, while the Congre- 
gationalists numbered 197,000; in 1870 the 
Disciples numbered 450,000, the Congrega- 
tionalists, 306,000; in 1880, the Disciples 
591,000, the Congregationalists, 384,000; 
in 1890, the Disciples, 641,000, the Congre- 
gationalists, 512,000; in 1900, the Disciples, 
1,118,000, the Congregationalists, 628,234. 
In 1850 the Congregationalists numbered 



300 The Disciples of Christ 

about twice as many communicants as the 
Disciples; in 1900 the position of the two 
bodies was exactly reversed. The Congre- 
gationalists are chosen for comparison with 
the Disciples because the two bodies have 
many resemblances, both in doctrine and 
organization, and have occupied the same 
territory. 

The Disciples have churches in every 
state of the Union but one (1904) — New 
Hampshire, with the possible addition of 
Nevada. They are most numerous in Mis- 
souri (1,710 churches, 180,000 members) 
Indiana (956 churches, 130.000 members) 
Kentucky (910 churches, 120,500 members) 
Illinois (815 churches, 120,000 members) 
Texas (780 churches, 93,000 members) 
Tennessee (562 churches, 52,300 members) 
Ohio (558 churches, 85,500 members); Iowa 
(501 churches, 57,000 members). They are 
weakest in the New England and eastern 
states, and in the extreme northern and 
southern states. Their strength lies in the 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 30 1 

central western states, where they first took 
root in the early days. 

Outside of the United States, the growth 
of the Disciples has not been so marked. 
In the Canadian Provinces there are only 
158 churches, with a membership of 12, 150; 
in Great Britain, 155 churches, with a mem- 
bership of 14,000; in Australia, 235 churches, 
with a membership of 17,298; and on the 
foreign missionary field, 148 churches, with 
a membership of 9,773. 

The Disciples began as a movement in the 
country and smaller towns and villages and 
have not made notable progress in the 
larger cities until the last fifteen years. 
The most striking gains in the last decade 
have been made in Washington, D. C, 
where the churches have increased from one 
to four, and the membership from 600 to 
2,050; in St. Louis, where the churches 
have increased from four to eleven and the 
membership from 1,129 to 3,784; in Pitts- 
burg, where the churches have increased 



302 The Disciples of Christ 

from eight to eighteen, and the membership 
from 1,494 to 4,545; in Kansas City, where 
the churches have increased from six to 
fourteen, and the membership from 2, 199 to 
4,600; in Des Moines, where the churches 
have increased from three to eight, and the 
membership from 1,500 to 4,420; in Chi- 
cago, where the churches have increased 
from six to eighteen, and the membership 
from 1,060 to 4,945; and in Buffalo, where 
the churches have increased from one to 
four, and the membership from 300 to 1, 107. 
The American Society has devoted special at- 
tention to the development of churches in 
the cities during the last ten years, under the 
conviction that the cities are the key to the 
evangelization of America. This remarka- 
ble advancement could not have been ac- 
complished without the leadership of an 
able company of younger pastors who have 
rendered or are rendering distinguished 
service in the following cities: W. F. 
Richardson, in Grand Rapids and Kansas 



Evangelism, Journalism, Education 303 

City; A. B. Philputt, in Philadelphia and 
Indianapolis; H. O. Breeden, in Des Moines; 
E. L. Powell, in Louisville; F. G. Tyrrell, 
in St. Louis; J. M. Philputt, in New York 
City; G. H. Combs, in Kansas City; A. M. 
Harvuot, in Cincinnati; G. A. Miller, in 
Covington; T. E. Cramblett, in Pittsburg; 
E. B. Bagby, in Washington City; Carey E. 
Morgan, in Richmond; I. N. McCash, in 
Des Moines; W. B. Craig, in Denver; F. P. 
Arthur, in Rochester and Grand Rapids; 
E. W. Darst, in Chicago; Mark Collis and 
I. J. Spencer, in Lexington; B. B. Tyler, in 
New York City and Denver; J. Z. Tyler, in 
Richmond and Cleveland; A. C. Smithers, 
in Los Angeles, 



CHAPTER XIV 

RECENT TENDENCIES AND PROBLEMS 

One of the serious problems which has 
exercised the minds of preachers, editors, 
and leaders, during the last quarter of a 
century, has been, how to develop, train, 
and utilize the rapidly increasing strength 
of the churches. The churches were grow- 
ing faster than the agencies for their proper 
care and training. The tendency in this 
period has been to emphasize Christian cul- 
ture, moral and spiritual growth, alongside 
of evangelism. It was fHt that evangelism 
had overshadowed nurture and education — 
that quantity had taken the place of quality as 
a test of religious progress. The churches 
were growing more rapidly in size and 
wealth than in knowledge and beneficence. 

The value of great meetings in which 
there were large numbers of additions was 
3°4 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 305 

sometimes held in doubt, when the churches 
receiving such increases, did not show a 
corresponding increase in missionary con- 
tributions. It sometimes happened that 
after a year such churches did not con- 
tain a very large proportion of the con- 
verts in their active membership, and were 
even weakened in their hold upon the com- 
munity. The tide was rising in favor of a 
new evangelism, which should depend 
more upon instruction than upon emo- 
tional excitement to produce results. Pas- 
tors began to fear the large ingatherings 
into their churches as laying upon the 
church a burden of training and assimila- 
tion too great to bear. They came to 
prefer meetings which edified the saints 
as well as converted the sinners; and for 
this purpose the safest man was felt to be 
the preacher who was under the responsi- 
bilities and understood the problems of the 
settled pastor's office. Professional evan- 
gelism was discredited in favour of 
r 



306 The Disciples of Christ 

pastoral evangelism. It became a veiy 
common practice for pastors to exchange 
meetings from year to year; while the 
professional evangelist assumed more fre- 
quently the pastoral relation. More re- 
cently pastors and evangelists have come to 
agree to eliminate the more objectionable 
features of professional evangelism, and to 
give it a new, but somewhat restricted, 
place in the church. 

The Disciples have eagerly adopted many 
modern agencies of an instructional char- 
acter for the development of Christian life 
in the churches, such as Christian Endeavor 
societies, Reading Circles, Bible lectures, and 
in some few instances, Institutional Church 
work. More and more they are beginning 
to share the common life and enterprises of 
the churches around them, and to be will- 
ing to adopt any method or society which 
has been found helpful to the larger social 
usefulness of the church. They are sharing 
with others the awakening to the duty of 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 307 

making the church a factor in social im- 
provement and regeneration. They have 
ceased to raise the cry of "innovation" 
against modern methods and devices in 
church work. One of the most recent 
developments is the employment of women 
as pastoral helpers in the larger churches. 
A school for the training of such helpers 
was organized in 1900, by A. M. Harvuot, 
at Cincinnati. After three years it was 
transferred to Drake University. 

The rapid development of educational 
institutions, with the rise of the educa- 
tional ideal in the last twenty-five years, 
has forced education as a problem upon 
the Disciples. They have never competed 
with the older denominations in educational 
equipment, nor have they kept pace with 
their advancement. The state institutions, 
with their inexhaustible resources, have 
made the problem all the more serious. 
The colleges of the Disciples, after apply- 
ing all their resources to the first require- 



308 The Disciples of Christ 

merits of the literary courses, have had 
nothing left to devote to the enlargement 
and specialization of their Bible depart- 
ments. Liberal conditions of entrance to 
the larger institutions of the East, and their 
immense opportunities, began to attract the 
young men of the church, and before 1890 
a few had crossed the Alleghanies in quest 
of the larger educational advantages. Just 
before and after 1890 there were to be 
found in Harvard, Yale, and Union Semi- 
nary, larger or smaller groups of Disciples 
from the various colleges of the West, 
among whom were Levi Marshall, John 
McKee, W. C. Payne, Clinton Lockhart, 
H. L. Willett, E. S. Ames, Hiram VanKirk, 
L. W. Morgan, B. A. Jenkins, W. E. Gar- 
rison, Baxter Waters, C. B. Coleman, — at 
Yale; C. C. Rowlison, Silas Jones — at Har- 
vard; J. M. Philputt, S. T. Willis, C. A. 
Young, A. B. Phillips, Errett Gates, and 
L. S. Batman — at Union. The contrast 
between the meagre equipment of the 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 309 

colleges they had left and the vast equip- 
ment of the richly endowed institutions 
to which they had gone filled them with 
pain and surprise. It made every man of 
them a missionary of the cause of educa- 
tion to his own people. Many of these 
young men gave themselves to the neg- 
lected cause of education and a few have 
been called to the presidencies of the col- 
leges— H. L. Willett, as dean of the Di- 
vinity House, in 1894; B. A. Jenkins, as 
president of Kentucky University, in 1901; 
Hiram VanKirk, as dean of Berkeley Bible 
Seminary, in 1900; W. E. Garrison, as presi- 
dent of Butler College, in 1904; C. C. Row- 
lison, as president of Hiram College, in 1905. 
The task of immediately bringing the 
educational standards and equipment of the 
Disciples up to those of other religious 
bodies seemed an impossible task. Yet the 
demand of the times was for a thoroughly 
trained and educated ministry. To meet 
the needs of the immediate present for the 



310 The Disciples of Christ 

ministry of the Disciples, the plan of co- 
operation with the larger institutions was 
adopted. The Disciples in California were 
the first to take advantage of this plan 
by cooperating with the state institution 
already established and equipped beyond 
their ability to equal. The funds obtained 
from the property of a college which was 
obliged to close its doors were devoted to 
the establishment of a Bible Seminary at 
Berkeley, in proximity to the State Univer- 
sity. The University was glad to have 
biblical and theological instruction put in 
reach of its students, and the Seminary was 
glad to be given the privileges of the Uni- 
versity. 

A similar yet a wider purpose was served 
in the establishment of the Disciples' Di- 
vinity House at the University of Chicago. 
In this instance the relation of the House to 
the University was organic, as it could not 
be in the case of a state institution; and be- 
sides taking advantage of an academic 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 311 

foundation, took advantage of the Divinity 
School as well. It was an effort to provide 
for the Disciples professional ministerial 
training under the broadest and amplest 
provisions which Christian munificence and 
scholarship could create. The movement to 
establish the Divinity House originated with 
H. L. Willett and was carried out in coop- 
eration with the Acting Board of the Ameri- 
can Christian Missionary Society in 1894. 

Eugene Divinity School was founded 
in 1895 by E. C. Sanderson, at Eugene, 
Oregon, to take advantage of the State 
University located at that place. The school 
is under the management of the Disciples 
and was organized primarily for the train- 
ing of men for the ministry. 

The Disciples of Missouri established a 
Bible College in connection with the Uni- 
versity of Missouri to provide biblical in- 
struction for the University students; but it 
has gradually grown into a college for the 
training of men for the ministry. 



312 The Disciples of Christ 

Thus by a succession of annexations with 
the larger, older, and better equipped insti- 
tutions, the Disciples have sought to meet 
the educational situation which confronted 
them. There are evidences of a rising tide 
of interest and devotion to the cause of edu- 
cation in the denomination at large, which 
is destined to make the next twenty-five 
years preeminently an era of educational 
enlargement, as the last twenty-five years 
has been an era of missionary organiza- 
tion. 

Modern biblical criticism, which had ob- 
tained a foothold in the higher institutions 
of learning and theological seminaries of the 
east, and was disturbing the theological 
position and dividing the ecclesiastical 
councils of the various religious bodies in 
America, began to receive some considera- 
tion from the Disciples before 1890. Not 
until the Christian Standard opened a de- 
partment of " Biblical Criticism " under the 
editorship of J. W. McGarvey in 1890, were 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 313 

the problems of the higher criticism brought 
to the general attention of the Disciples. 
Professor McGarvey had made for himself a 
foremost place as preacher and author be- 
fore 1870. He was one of the group of in- 
fluential men who established the Apostolic 
Times in opposition to the Christian 
Standard, and has consistently stood in op- 
position to modern innovations to the pres- 
ent time. He fought the introduction of 
the organ into the churches, including the 
one in which he held membership; and 
when it introduced the organ in 1901 he 
withdrew his membership from it. When 
the new problems of the higher criticism 
appeared he entered the field against it and 
fought its progress at every step with every 
weapon of argument, ridicule, and innuendo. 
He has been the centre and brain of the op- 
position to higher criticism among the Dis- 
ciples. 

The questions raised by the new criticism 
were entirely strange to the rank and file of 



314 The Disciples of Christ 

the ministry. The Standard committed its 
influence and authority against the newer 
critical methods from the beginning, and 
identified the higher criticism, in use in all 
European universities and most American, 
with the infidelity of Celsus, Voltaire, 
Renan, Strauss, and Robert Ingersoll. 
There were some students among the Dis- 
ciples who did not look upon the higher 
criticism in that light, but insisted upon dis- 
tinguishing its principles and methods from 
its conclusions. 

The first voices raised in favor of clear- 
ness of distinction and calmness in the dis- 
cussion were those of J. J. Haley and J. H. 
Garrison. Many articles were written in 
explanation of the principles, purposes, and 
workings of the higher criticism to moder- 
ate the hatred and fear of it, but very few 
were written in espousal of any of its con- 
clusions. Those who did venture to accept 
any of its conclusions which contradicted 
the traditional opinion, were denounced 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 315 

and defamed as unsafe and unsound. It 
became nearly fatal to usefulness for a 
teacher, preacher, or newspaper to give oc- 
casion for being read out as a higher critic. 
In the case of a teacher, colleges either 
cautioned him or dismissed him; in the 
case of a preacher, churches and his minis- 
terial brethren avoided him; in the case of 
a newspaper, subscribers stopped it and 
Sunday-schools refused to buy its supplies 
and helps. Many teachers, preachers, 
newspapers, and even colleges hastened to 
put themselves on record against the higher 
criticism, for silence was construed as con- 
fession of guilt. There can be no doubt 
that several publishing companies were 
materially benefited by assuming a judi- 
cious attitude against it; while one com- 
pany was actually threatened with disaster 
for refusing to join in the undiscriminating 
cry against it and for employing men sus- 
pected of leanings towards it as writers in 
its columns and of its Sunday-school sup- 



316 The Disciples of Christ 

plies. Higher criticism was the question 
which formed parties in conventions, in- 
fluenced the action of missionary societies, 
drew the line between teachers and preach- 
ers, and divided the denomination into two 
more or less clearly defined camps. Out 
of this question have grown the new con- 
troversies within the body which have dis- 
turbed its peace and harmony during the 
last fifteen years. 

The first controversy which drew upon 
itself general attention and was warmly 
discussed in the newspapers was the case 
of H. C. Garvin, which occurred in 1895 
while he was professor in Butler College. 
He had been greatly influenced by the 
new ideas in his views and methods, 
and began to question the correctness 
of some of the doctrinal positions of 
the Disciples. The question which came 
to the front in the controversy was as 
to the priority of faith or repentance 
in conversion. He expressed the opinion 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 317 

that repentance preceded faith both in 
the teaching of Scripture and in experi- 
ence, contrary to the usual teaching of the 
Disciples. Other opinions of a heretical 
nature from the orthodox denominational 
point of view were drawn from him, which 
aroused the opposition of the authorities of 
the college and forced him to resign. A 
group of his students who thought him un- 
fairly treated, and could see no serious de- 
parture in his teachings, left the denomina- 
tion with him. 

A continuous controversy has centred in 
the person of Herbert L. Willett since 1894. 
He sprang into prominence as pastor of the 
church at Dayton, Ohio, and as a Bible 
lecturer of exceptional attractiveness and 
power about 1894. He had been a student 
at Bethany College and Yale University, 
and came to the University of Chicago as a 
student and instructor at its opening in 
1893. As Dean of the Divinity House he 
£ame in for a share of the criticism aroused 



318 The Disciples of Christ 

over its establishment. He was known to 
be in sympathy with the new learning, and 
his influence over a large group of younger 
men was feared. An unbroken opposition 
to him and the work of the Divinity House 
has been waged by a conservative element 
and has involved everything with which he 
has been connected. His connection with 
the Christian Evangelist drew that paper 
under fire, and his later connection with 
the Christian Century has involved that 
paper in all the suspicion and opposition 
attaching to his name. An attack calling 
in question his loyalty to the teaching of 
the denomination, was made upon him by 
the editors of the Standard in 1901. Cer- 
tain passages in his book on Our Plea for 
Union and the Present Crisis, in which he 
set forth his position with reference to the 
place and mission of the Disciples, were 
made to bear a meaning not intended by 
him, and awakened widespread discussion 
and bitter criticism. The opposition to 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 319 

Professor Willett which was intended to 
destroy his influence in the denomination, 
has only partly succeeded, for in spite of it 
he has steadily grown in favor and influ- 
ence and in demand as a lecturer upon Bible 
themes. 

When S. M. Jefferson resigned as Dean 
of the Berkeley Bible Seminary in 1900, 
Hiram VanKirk, then instructor in the Dis- 
ciples' Divinity House, was selected to suc- 
ceed him. Suspicion rested upon him from 
the first, coming as he did from a suspected 
institution. He was growing rapidly in 
favor with the Disciples in California when 
a group of men opposing him entered into 
a conspiracy in 1903 to drive him from his 
position. Their charges of heresy were 
sent to the Standard, as having the widest 
influence in California and reputed for its 
zeal against the new learning, and without 
investigating them published them and sent 
hundreds of extra copies into the state to 
make sure of a general uprising against the 



320 The Disciples of Christ 

Dean. The charges were denied by him 
and laid before his board of directors for 
investigation. He was cleared of the 
charges and retained in his position. After 
investigation the Standard discovered the 
groundlessness of the charges and ac- 
knowledged that the persecution against 
Professor VanKirk was unjust. 

Another Butler College professor fell 
under criticism in 1898, in the person of 
E. S. Ames, professor of philosophy, on 
account of certain utterances made in an 
article in the New Christian Quarterly. He 
became pastor of the Hyde Park Church, 
Chicago, in 1900, and shortly after published 
a sermon entitled, A Personal Confession of 
Faith. No notice was taken of the sermon 
until two years after its publication, when, 
in connection with a sermon advocating 
" Associate Church Membership," he was 
denounced by the editors of the Standard 
as a Unitarian and apostate from the ac- 
cepted teachings of the Disciples, and pro- 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 32 1 

nounced unworthy of fellowship among 
them. The church of which he was pastor 
was called upon to dismiss him or acknowl- 
edge its agreement with his opinions. The 
church took action in a series of resolutions 
declaring its loyalty to the doctrinal position 
of the denomination, and affirming its right 
to liberty in local church government, as 
well as in doctrinal matters not involving 
the essential teachings of Christianity. 

The missionary societies did not entirely 
escape the influence of these controversies. 
Moved by the conviction that the persons 
who were known to be friendly to the new 
learning were dangerous to the well-being 
of the churches, the editors of the Christian 
Standard sought to commit the American 
Society against them by calling upon its 
secretary, B. L. Smith, to sign a statement 
disavowing all sympathy with the higher 
critics or disposition towards the employ- 
ment of such persons in its service. In- 
spired by their success with the secretary 



322 The Disciples of Christ 

of the American Society they turned their 
attention to the Board of Church Ex- 
tension and asked its secretary, George 
W. Muckley, to assure the churches 
by a public statement that he would 
have no fellowship with men suspected 
of sympathy #with the higher criticism. 
By this time many men of influence 
thought they saw danger in making the 
missionary societies parties to theological 
controversies, and protested against the 
action of the editors of the Standard. The 
Extension Board and other societies con- 
cluded that it was not in their province to 
pass judgment upon the orthodoxy of their 
servants, and that it was not in the province 
of a newspaper to require it of them. 

These controversies have been the nearest 
approach to " heresy trials " among the Dis- 
ciples in recent years. There being no court 
of inquiry outside of the local churches, a 
heresy trial in the usual sense and form as 
carried on in some other bodies, has never 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 323 

been known among them. The newspapers 
have usually assumed the functions of pros- 
ecutor of errorists and defender of the faith. 
Since it is not always possible in such trials, 
where there is no authority over the accused 
to secure his appearance in his own defense 
or carry out any decision with reference to 
him, heretics prosecuted by newspapers 
have usually gone unpunished except in the 
suspicion and prejudice awakened against 
them in the churches. 

Involved in all of these controversies was 
the appeal to the principle of Christian 
liberty or freedom of opinion, which had 
always been the boasted and peculiar pos- 
session of the Disciples. A larger liberty of 
thought and opinion was one of the first 
principles laid down in the Declaration and 
Address. Liberty to think and differ with 
one another upon many truths of Christian- 
ity was a sacred privilege demanded and 
accorded by all the great leaders. It was 
felt to have a place in the discussion and 



324 The Disciples of Christ 

settlement of the new questions concerning 
biblical criticism. 

The discussion of all the learned prob- 
lems connected with these controversies 
was carried on in the weekly news- 
papers, and laid before all the people of 
the churches for their perusal. It was felt 
by many persons to be unwise if not in- 
jurious to introduce the technicalities of these 
discussions to the unlearned. As an out- 
let for the discussion of all modern biblical, 
theological, and philosophical questions, the 
Congress of the Disciples was organized 
and met for the first time in St. Louis in 
1899. It has served as a clearing-house for 
many of these controverted questions, and 
has been the means of a better understand- 
ing among the conservative and progressive 
elements. 

The Disciples have never forgotten that 
their special mission among the various Prot- 
estant denominations was to teach them the 
desirability, and if possible, show them the 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 325 

way to Christian unity. Their own anoma- 
lous position as a separate communion, 
looked upon as a sect among the sects, they 
have never accepted as justifiable or final. 
Their separation from the Baptists they laid 
at the door of the Baptists, and would not 
be held responsible for it, because it was a 
recourse which they did not choose and never 
willingly consented to. Since the separa- 
tion they have constantly proclaimed Chris- 
tian union as a duty and as the goal of their 
mission in Christendom. Many conferences 
have been held between the Disciples and 
Baptists, and the Disciples and Congrega- 
tionalists, to discuss the differences which 
separated them, and the principles and terms 
on which union could be consummated. 

A conference to consider the union of 
Baptists and Disciples was held at Rich- 
mond, Virginia, in April, 1866, attended by 
J. B. Jeter, A. M. Poindexter, W. F. Broad- 
dus, and others on the part of the Baptists; 
and W. K. Pendleton, J. W. Goss, J. Duval, 



326 The Disciples of Christ 

W. H. Hopson, and others on the part of 
the Disciples. Party spirit between the two 
bodies ran high in Virginia from the days of 
the separation, and was intensified by the 
publication in 1854 of an attack upon the 
position of the Disciples by J. B. Jeter, in 
a book entitled, Campbellism Examined. 
Numerous replies were made, the most 
elaborate of which was by Moses E. Lard 
in a book published in 1857, called, A Re- 
view of Campbellism Examined. The books 
were not designed to moderate the spirit of 
opposition between the two bodies. The 
proposal which led to the conference at 
Richmond originated with W. F. Broaddus 
and was quickly endorsed by J. W. Goss 
on the part of the Disciples. The conclu- 
sion deliberately yet reluctantly reached by 
the conference and published to the two 
bodies in the state of Virginia was: "That 
the time has not yet come when the Bap- 
tists and Disciples are, on both sides, pre- 
pared, with a prospect of perfect harmony, 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 327 

to commit themselves with any degree of 
cooperation beyond such courtesies and 
personal Christian kindnesses as members 
of churches of different denominations may 
individually choose to engage in." Similar 
conferences were held in different states, as 
in North Carolina, in December, 1868, be- 
tween the Disciples, Free Baptists, and 
Union Baptists. 

The second half of the nineteenth century 
witnessed the rise of a notable interest in 
the question of Christian union among all 
the larger Protestant denominations. In 
1853 arose the Memorial Movement in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church which was de- 
signed as an important step " towards the 
effecting of a church unity in the Protestant 
Christendom of our land." In 1863 the 
"Christian Union Association" was organ- 
ized in New York as an effort on the part 
of sympathetic spirits of the leading Protes- 
tant denominations "to diffuse the great 
principles of Christian union/' In 1864 the 



328 The Disciples of Christ 

"Christian Unity Society " was organized 
within the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
By 1880 the Disciples were not alone in 
their prayer for Christian union. The appeal 
began to be heard in all the denominations. 
The Disciples are to be credited with some 
influence in the revival of this new enthusi- 
asm, but to the Protestant Episcopal Church 
belongs the larger credit for the considera- 
tion Christian union has received in Ameri- 
can religious thought during the last twenty- 
five years. The Memorial Movement bore 
fruit in a Declaration Concerning Unity, 
promulgated by the House of Bishops at 
Chicago, in 1886. After submitting the so- 
called "Quadrilateral Basis" of union as 
the essential foundation of a true, catholic, 
apostolic church, they closed by announ- 
cing: "We hereby declare our desire and 
readiness, so soon as there shall be any 
authorized response to this declaration, to 
enter into brotherly conference with all or 
any Christian bodies seeking the restoration 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 329 

of the organic unity of the church, with a 
view to the earnest study of the conditions 
under which so priceless a blessing might 
happily be brought to pass." 

This Declaration was transmitted to the 
General Convention of the Disciples which 
met at Indianapolis in 1887. A committee 
consisting of Isaac Errett, J. W. McGarvey, 
D. R. Dungan, J. H. Garrison, B. J. Rad- 
ford, C L. Loos, and A. R. Benton, was 
appointed to draw up a reply. The reply 
consisted in a statement of the princi- 
ples and basis of union advocated by the 
Disciples. The Episcopalians submitted a 
description of themselves as a basis of 
union, and the Disciples responded with a 
description of themselves. Both bodies 
submitted bases which they regarded as 
"incapable of compromise or surrender." 
It is not surprising that nothing further 
came of this correspondence in the way of 
"brotherly conferences." It was a fore- 
gone conclusion that each would be content 



330 The Disciples of Christ 

with nothing but the absorption of the 
other, or a remodelling of the other, after 
its own pattern as the final goal of a 
union. 

As ended this correspondence, so has 
ended every correspondence and conference 
between the Disciples and other denomina- 
tions looking to a union, except the con- 
ference which issued in the union of the 
Christians and Disciples in 1832. That was 
a union by agreement in doctrine and prac- 
tice. Yet a union between the Disciples 
and Baptists or Free Will Baptists, has 
never been possible, notwithstanding their 
essential agreement in doctrine and practice. 
The poor success attending the union ef- 
forts of the Disciples, and the slow accept- 
ance of their principles by other denomina- 
tions, during the last hundred years, has 
led a large and influential group among 
them to the conclusion that something 
more immediate and practicable than a pro- 
gram of union by doctrinal and formal 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 331 

agreement should be attempted by the 
present generation. It has resulted in a 
more cordial and appreciative attitude of 
the Disciples towards other bodies, and in 
the conviction that the closely related de- 
nominations could and should enter into 
cooperation with each other in many social 
and civic, missionary and evangelistic 
movements, which would not interfere 
with the freedom or integrity of each 
other's denominational life and activity. 
They have rejoiced in the growing spirit of 
fraternity among the churches in recent 
years manifested in the various union 
movements, such as the Young Men's 
Christian Association, Young People's So- 
ciety of Christian Endeavor, Sunday-school 
Associations, League of Church Federation, 
and Union Evangelistic Meetings, and have 
freely participated in all of them. Many 
are feeling that since the Disciples have 
been preaching Christian union for nearly a 
hundred years without tangible results, it 



33 2 The Disciples of Christ 

is time now to practice it as a method of 
promotion. 

There has come to some of the best 
spirits of the denomination a new and in- 
tense appreciation of its mission as a Chris- 
tian union movement. They feel that its 
chief justification for existence as a separate 
body lies in what it can contribute towards 
the union of Christians in this generation. 
They are not content to wait for the con- 
summation of a far-off, ideal union in some 
future generation, but desire to prepare the 
way for it by a larger cooperation and 
freedom of relationship with other bodies 
in the present generation. The leaders in 
this reviving sense of obiigation to the 
principle and practice of Christian union are 
J. H. Garrison and Herbert L. Willett, who 
are doing all they can as editors of the 
Christian Evangelist and Christian Cen- 
tury, respectively, to inspire the denomina- 
tion with this new eagerness for a united 
church. There is no disposition on their 



Recent Tendencies and Problems 333 

part to abate the insistence upon a return 
to primitive Christianity as the principle of 
a true consensus, but primitive Christianity 
is receiving a larger meaning and a new 
emphasis. It is no longer held to be in its 
essence a form of public worship or a 
method of church organization, but an atti- 
tude of the human spirit in all of its social 
relationships, as child of God and brother 
of man. 

There is new hope for union in the in- 
creasing agreement among all Christians to 
regard Christianity as something essentially 
spiritual and ethical, and therefore universal 
and practical. The hope of a universal 
unity lies in the spiritual. The one lesson 
of this history is, that the letter destroys 
unity while the spirit makes it alive. 



Bibliography 



I ^Baxter, William. Life of Walter Scott. 1874. 
% v/Baxter, William. Life of Knowles Shaw. 1879. 
^ Brown, J. T., Edited by. Churches of Christ. 1904. '&- >1 ' 
^Butler, Pardee. Personal Recollections. 
Campbell, Alexander. Debate with John Walker. 

1820. 
Campbell, Alexander. Debate with W. L. Maccalla. 

1823. 
Campbell, Alexander, Edited by. Christian Baptist. 

7 vols. 1 823- 1 830. 
Campbell, Alexander, Edited by. Millennial Har- 
binger. 36 vols. 1 830-1 866. 
Campbell, Alexander. Debate with Robert Owen. 
1829. 

Campbell, Alexander. Debate with J. B. Purcell. 

1837. 
Campbell, Alexander. Debate with N. L. Rice. 

1843. 
Campbell, Alexander. Life of Thomas Campbell. 

1861. 

Don AN, P. Memoir of Jacob Breath, Jr. 1877. 
Errett, Isaac Edited by. Christian Standard. 
1 866- 1 888. 
► Eureka College, History of 1894. ' ' L 

. Evans, Madison. Pioneer Preachers of the Christian *% s, * \ 
Church, in Indiana. 1 862. 
Franklin, Joseph, and J. A. Headington. Life of 
Benjamin Franklin. 1 879. 

335 



336 Bibliography 

(/ Garrison, J. H., Edited by. The Reformation of the 
Nineteenth Century. 1 901. 

Garrison, W. E. The Theology of Alexander Camp- 
^ bell. 

1 Gates, Errett. The Early Relation and Separation 
of Baptists and Disciples. 1904. 
$>'■ ^Green, F. M. Christian Missions. 1884. 

4 Green, F. M. History of Hiram College. 1901. 
Grafton, T. W. Life of Alexander Campbell. 1897. 
Grafton, T. W. Men of Yesterday. 
* . . v Haley, T. P. Dawn of the Reformation in Missouri. 
1888. 
^ Hayden, A. S. History of the Disciples in the Western 
Reserve. 1875. 

a/Hopson, Ella L., Edited by. Memoirs of Dr. W. H. 
Hops on. 

HoSHOUR, S. K. Autobiography. 1884. 
Johnson, B. W. and J. H. Garrison, Edited by. 
Christian Evangelist. 1882- 1905. 
1/ Lamar, J. S. Memoirs of Isaac Errett. 2 vols. 1893. 
Longan, G. W. Origin of the Disciples of Christ. 
1889. 
v Mathes, J. M. Life of Elijah Goodwin. 
^Mitchell, N. J. Pioneer Preacher. 1877. 
Moore, W. T. Living Pulpit of the Christian Church. 
1868. 
£ Moore, W. T. Life of Timothy Coop. 

Power, F. D. Sketches of Our Pioneers. 1898. 
Richardson, Robert. Memoirs of Alexander Camp- 
V bell. 2 vols. 1868. 

d Rogers, John. Biography of J. T. Johnson. 1 86 1. 

Rogers, J. I., Edited by. Autobiography of Samuel 
• Rogers. 1 88 1. 



Bibliography 337 



Rogers, W. C. Recollections of Men of Faith, 1889. 
Shackleford, John, Edited by. Life and Letters of 
^ L. L. Pinkerton. 1876. 

Stone, B. W., Edited by. Christian Messenger. 1826- 

1844. 
Stone, B. W. Autobiography. 1847. 
Tyler, B. B. History of the Disciples. Vol. XII. 

Amer. Ch. His. Series. 1894. 
Williams, J. A. Life of John Smith. 1870. 
HH V Young, C. A., Edited by. Historic Documents. 1904. 



Index 



Abingdon College, 223. 

Allen, T. M., 206, 207, 248. 

American Christian Missionary Society, The, controversy 

over, 239 ; organization of, 259-262 ; work of, 262- 

264. 
Ames, E. S., 308 ; controversy concerning, 320. 
Appomattox Association, action of, against Reformers, 

164. 
Arthur* F. P., 303. 
Atkinson, A. M., 273. 
Atwater, J. M., 297. 

Bacon College, 220. 

Bagby, E. B., 303. 

Baptism, design of, 108, 117, 170. 

Barclay, Dr. J. T., 262. 

Baxter, William, 281. 

Beaver Association, resolutions of, against Reformers, 

160-162. 
Benevolent Association, The National, 274. 
Belding, W. A., 215. 
Benton, A. R., 329. 
Berkeley Bible Seminary, 310. 
Bethany College, 292. 
Bible chairs, 266. 

Biblical criticism, as a recent problem, 312-322. 
Bowman, J. B., 220. 
Breeden, H. O., 303. 
British Millennial Harbinger ; 227. 

339 



34-0 Index 



Brush Run Church, organization of, 85 ; immersion of, 

90 ; union with the Baptists, 93, 94, 100. 
Burgess, O, A., 281. 

Burnet, D. S., 181, 189, 217, 239, 262, 281. 
Butler College, 221, 293. 

Campbell, Alexander, birth, 10; education, n, 12; 
religious discipline in home of, 12, 13; conversion, 
13 ; at the University of Glasgow, 61, 62; arrival in 
America, 61; licensed to preach, 86; ordained to 
ministry, 87 ; marriage of, 88 ; immersion of, 88, 
89 ; disagreement with Baptist doctrines, 95-99 ; 
debate with John Walker, 106-109 ; attitude to- 
wards Baptists, 100, no, 112, 124, 127, 128; de- 
bate with W. L. Maccalla, 116; attitude of Baptists 
towards, 1 20- 124; success among Baptists, 127- 
129 ; withdraws from Redstone and joins Mahoning 
Association, 139 ; influence over Reformers, 156, 
157; influence over B. W. Stone, 195, 196; corre- 
spondence and discussions with Stone, 196- 1 99 ; 
contrasted with Stone, 209, 210; debate with 
Robert Owen, 216; debate with J. B. Purcell, 216; 
debate with N. L. Rice, 229 ; defines a Christian, 
233 ; position on missionary question, 240, 241 ; on 
slavery question, 247 ; death of, 256. 

Campbell, Thomas, ancestors, birth, 7 ; conversion, 8 ; 
preparation for the ministry, 9, 10 ; marriage of, 
10; the spirit of, 14, 15, 26; influence of Inde- 
pendents upon, 27-32 ; union efforts of, in Ireland, 
27 ; removal to America, 33, 34 ; trial of, by Pres- 
bytery of Chartiers, 36, 37 ; letter of, to Synod, 37- 
40 ; withdrawal from Seceder church, 43 ; plan of 
Christian union, 58-61 ; a Christian unionist, 94, 209. 

Carpenter, George T., 297. 

Challen, James, 216, 217, 262, 281. 

Christians, The, the name, 185 ; union with Reformers, 
190-203; difference between Disciples and, 192; 
opposed by other bodies, 194-197; number of, 204; 
characteristics of, 209. 



Index 341 



Christian Association of Washington, The, origin of, 44, 

45 ; plan and purpose of, 46-58 ; 81, 82. 
Christian Baptist, The, ill; circulation and influence 

of, 121-126, 140; publication ceases, 183. 
Christian Century, The, 291, 318, 332. 
Christian Evangelist ', The, 287, 289, 290, 291, 318,332. 
Christian Standard, The, 252, 256, 287, 288, 312, 313, 

318, 319, 321. 
Christian union, conference on, at Lexington, 230 ; as a 

recent problem, 324-337 ; Richmond conference on, 

3 2 5> 3 26 - 
Christian University, 293. 

Christian Women's Board of Missions, 264-267. 
Church Extension, Board of, 271, 272. 
College of the Bible, 293. 
Collis, Mark, 303. 
Columbia Bible College, 311. 
Combs, G. H., 303. 
Congress of the Disciples, 324. 
Controversy, missionary society, 240-246 ; slavery, 246- 

250 ; organ, 250-253. 
Coombs, J. V., 283. 
Cotner University, 294. 
Craig, W. B., 303. 
Cramblett, T. E., 303. 
Creath, Jacob, Sr., 138. 

Darsie, George, 282. 

Darst, E. W., 303. 

Declaration and Address, 45, 46, 49-58. 

Disciples, growth of the, 299, 300 ; in the United States, 

2 99-3 J > i n foreign countries, 301 ; in the cities, 

30 1 > 3° 2 - 
Disciples' Divinity House, 310. 
Disciples of Christ, The, the name, 185 ; origin as a 

separate party, 212; parties among, 233, 253. 
Dover Association, resolutions of, against Reformers, 

164. 
Drake, General F. M., 226. 



34 2 Index 

Drake University, 226, 293. 
Dungan, D. R., 298, 329. 

Education, Board of, 276. 

Education, 291-299; as a recent problem, 307-312. 

England, beginnings of the reformation in, 226. 

Errett, Isaac, 215, 252, 255-258, 265, 268, 281, 284, 
287, 329. 

Erskine, Ebenezer, 22. 

Eugene Divinity School, 311. 

Eureka College, 223, 293. 

Evangelization, Bureau of, 263. 

Evangelism, method of, 279 ; success of, 280 ; influence 
of, upon the literature of the Disciples, 284 ; influ- 
ence upon doctrine and life, 285 ; a new, 305, 306. 

Everest, H. W., 297. 

Ewing, Greville, 30, 62. 

Fall, P. S., 129, 218. 

Foreign Christian Missionary Society, 268-270. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 221 ; opposes missionary society, 
244, 245, 250, 251, 262. 

Gano, J. A., 207, 208. 

Garfield, James A., 297. 

Garrison, J. H., 284, 287, 289, 290, 314, 329, 332. 

Garrison, W. E., 308, 309. 

Garvin, H. C, controversy concerning, 316. 

Gilbert, A. N., 282. 

Glas, John, 27. 

Goodwin, Elijah, 221, 262. 

Graham, Robert, 252, 297. 

Green, A. B., 215. 

Green, F. M., 268. 

Haldane, James A., and Robert, 29-31. 
Haley, J. J., 282, 314. 
Haley, T. P., 248, 281. 
Hall, Jabez, 282. 



Index 343 



Harlow, W. E., 283. 
Hartzel, Jonas, 215. 
Harvuot, A. M., 303, 307. 
Hayden, A. S., 281. 
Hayden, William, 189, 215. 
Henderson, D. P., 222, 281. 
Henry, John, 188. 
Heresy Trials, 322. 
Hinsdale, B. A., 297. 
Hiram College, 217, 293. 
Hobbs, A. I., 268, 282. 
Hopson, W. H., 252, 281. 
Hoshour, S. K., 221, 296. 

Illinois, beginnings of the reformation in, 221, 222. 
Immersion, as a test of fellowship, 90, 124. 
Iowa, beginnings of the reformation in, 225. 

Jameson, L. H., 221. 

Jenkins, B. A., 308, 309. 

Jeter, J. B., 325 ; his work on Campbellism Examined^ 

326. 
Johnson, B. W., 289. 

Johnson, J. T., 138, 200, 218, 220, 230, 262. 
Jones, J. H., 215. 
Journalism, 285-291. 

Kentucky, beginnings of the reformation in, 217-220. 
Kentucky University, 220, 293. 
King, Joseph, 281. 
Knox, John, 18. 

Lamar, J. S., 268, 281, 284. 

Lard, Moses E., 252; his book on A Review of Camp- 

bellism Examined, 326. 
Loos, C. L., 268, 299, 329. 
Louisville church, 131, 132. 
Lucas, D. R., 282. 



344 Index 

Maccalla, W. L, 116. 

Mahoning Association, The, 123, 138, 173, 191. 

Mathes, J. M., 221, 262. 

Matthews, R. T., 282. 

McBride, Thomas, 224. 

McCash, I. N., 303. 

McGarvey, J. W., 248, 252, 284, 298, 312, 313, 329. 

McGready, James, 66, 72. 

McLean, A., 268, 270. 

Alillennial Harbinger t origin of, 183-185. 

Milligan, Robert, 284, 296. 

Ministerial Relief, Board of, 273, 274. 

Missouri, beginnings of the reformation in, 224. 

Moffett, Robert, 268, 271. 

Moore, W. T., 268, 281, 284. 

Morgan, Carey E., 303. 

Mormonism, connection with the Disciples, 215, 216. 

Moss, J. J., 215, 217. 

Muckley, G. W., 271, 321. 

Negro Evangelization and Education, Board of, 275. 
Northcutt, H. A., 283. 

Ohio, beginnings of the reformation in, 214. 
O'Kane, John, 221, 262. 
Oskaloosa College, 226, 293. 

Pendleton, W. K., 262, 295, 325. 

Philputt, A. B., 303. 

Philputt, J. M., 303. 

Pinkerton, L. L., 250, 262, 281. 

Powell, E. L., 303. 

Powers, F. D., 282, 284. 

Primitive Christianity, the authority of, 41 ; as a prin- 
ciple of Christian unity, 41, 60; missions, an essen- 
tial element of, 236-238. 

Proctor, Alexander, 281. 

Protestant Episcopal Church, the Memorial Movement 
°f> 3 2 7 > Quadrilateral Basis of union of, 328, 



Index 345 

Radford, B. J., 298, 329. 

Raines, Aylett, 218. 

Redstone Association, 10 1 ; opposition in, to Campbell, 

104, 105, 138; action of, against Reformers, 160. 
Reformers and Baptists, differences between, 1 69- 1 73. 
Richardson, Robert, 217, 284, 295. 
Richardson, W. F., 302. 
Rogers, John, 202, 205, 206, 218, 219. 
Rogers, Samuel, 204, 205, 224. 
Rowlison, C. C, 308, 309. 

Sandeman, Robert, 28. 

Scott, Walter, evangelist of Mahoning Association, 141- 

144; the preaching of, 144-149, 193, 211, 215,217, 

262, 277. 
Scotland, the Reformation in, 17 ; patronage in the 

church of, 19-21. 
Scoville, Charles Reign, 283. 
Scriptures, the authority of, 40-58 ; the interpretation 

of, 235, 236, 255. 
Seceder church, origin of, 17-23 ; narrowness of, 23-26 ; 

division of, into Burghers and Anti-Burghers, 24 ; 

Old Lights and New Lights, 25 ; in America, 34, 35. 
Semple, Robert, 120, 164, 165. 
Sermon on the Law, 1 02. 
Shaw, Knowles, 283. 
Shepherd, Silas E., 296. 
Smith, B. L., 263, 321. 
Smith, C. C, 275. 
Smith, J. H. O., 283. 

Smith, John, 132-137, 200, 202, 218, 219. 
Smithers, A. C, 303. 
Spencer, I. J., 282, 303. 
Springfield Presbytery, 74; Last Will and Testament 

of, 75- 
Stone, Barton W., birth, 64 ; education, 66 ; conversion, 
66-68 ; theological difficulties, 70, 7 1 ; doctrinal 
beliefs, 73-76; withdrawal from Presbyterian 
Church, 74; immersion, 77, 191, 222. 



346 Index 

Sweeney, J. S., 281. 

Tate's Creek Association, action of, against Reform- 
ers, 162, 163. 
Texas Christian University, 294. 
Trible, J. M., 282. 
Tyler, B. B., 268, 282, 284, 303. 
Tyler, J. Z., 282, 303. 
Tyrrell, F. G., 303. 

Updike, J. V., 283. 

Van Kirk, Hiram, 308, 309 ; controversy concerning, 
3 J 9, 3 2 °- 

Walk, David, 281. 
Walker, John, 31. 
Walker, John, debate with, 106. 
Wilkes, L. B., 281. 

Willett, H. L., 266, 308, 309,311; controversy concern- 
ing, 317, 332. 
Wilson, Allen, 283. 

Yearly Meetings, origin of, 181, 182, 217, 218. 
Young, C. A., 266, 308. 



THE STORY OF THE CHURCHES 

THE EPISCOPALIANS 

By DANIEL D. ADDISON, D.D. 

i2mo. With Frontispiece. Net, $1.00. Postage, 8c. 

This is the fifth volume of The Story of the Churches 
series. Dr. Addison has gained a reputation as one of 
the most skillful historical writers in the Episcopalian 
church. His book work has not been extensive, but it 
has attracted the widest attention. In this volume he 
treats the histor)^ of the church in a popular but very 
accurate manner. 

The series was designed to answer the often asked 
questions, "What is a Baptist?" or " What is a 
Presbyterian?" etc., and to clear up many traditional 
errors in the opinions of the members of one denomi- 
nation regarding the history and creed of the other 
sects, and even of their own. 

Of this series as a whole The Churchman, New York, 

says : 

11 Such a plan is heartily to be welcomed. We must 
know more of one another if we are to understand one 
another, and we must understand one another better if we 
are to co-operate for the Christianizing of this country 
and the evangelization of the world." 

The Boston Globe: 

" The History of the denomination has here been clearly 
stated, and the main points of its distinctiveness have 
been plainly set forth with the tactful forcefulness which 
characterizes all of Dr. Addison's writings." 

The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

33-37 East 17th St., Union Sq. North, New York 



The Story of the Churches 

A New Volume 

THE 

CONGREGATIONALISTS 

BY 

Leonard W. Bacon, D.D. 

Author of "A History of American Christianity'''' 

i2mo, with frontispiece, net, $1.00 

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Dr. Bacon is recognized as one of the most pungent 
writers of the day on religious topics. His great 
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known everywhere to students of religious history, 
and his briefer works are distinguished by strength 
and straight-from- the- shoulder qualities, which 
make them very popular. His history of the Con- 
gregationalists is sure to attract the widest attention, 
and to excite much criticism. 

Alex. V. G. Allen, Chester, Nova Scotia, of the Episco- 
pal Theological Seminary at Cambridge : 

" Every one must be charmed, I think, with its fairness, its 
moderation, its genial and Christian tone. The only fault is 
the book is too small, too short. When the man and the sub- 
ject met as in this case the result should have been more 
ample space for discussion. At any rate, it must prove a 
classic on the subject. " 

New York Sun: " The little volume is admirable. It is written 
with due sense of proportion, it relates the things that have 
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that is worth reading for its own sake." 

The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

35-37 East 17th St., Union Sq. North, New York 



The Story of the Churches 
THE 

METHODISTS 

By John Alfred Faulkner, D.D. 

Professor of Historical Theology in Dreiv Theological Seminary 
Small umo, with Frontispiece, net, $1.00 (Postage 8 Cts.) 

The object of this series is to furnish brief his- 
tories of the several denominations written by 
the leading historians of each sect. The books 
will average only about forty thousand words, 250 to 
300 pages, and are calculated to interest the average 
church member as well as the student of church 
history. 

No man is better qualified to write the history of 
the Methodists than Dr. Faulkner. His position, his 
standing as a student, and his skill as a writer, are 
all guarantees of the excellence of this volume. 

The scope of his work includes the rise of Wes- 
ley in England; the planting and early organization of 
the church in America; the first conferences; the 
growth of the church and its relation to the country 
as a whole, all told fully, yet in the brief and popular 
style at which the series aims. 

The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

33-37 East 17th St., Union Sq. North, New York 



•- I '>> 



The Story of the Churches 

THE BAPTISTS 



HENRY C. VEDDER, D.D. 

Professor of Church History in Crozer Theological Seminary 

Small i2mo, with frontispiece, net, $1.00 

{Postage 8 cents) 

The object of this series is to furnish brief his- 
tories of the several denominations written 
by the leading historians of each sect. The 
books will average only about forty thou- 
sand words and are calculated to interest 
the average church member as well as the 
student of Church history. 

Dr. Vedder is an authority on American Church 
History and a specialist in the history of 
the Baptists. He has a sprightly but vig- 
orous style, and a manner of expressing his 
ideas which is pleasing in its clearness and 
brevity. 

The Baker & Taylor Co., Publishers 

33-37 East 17th St., Union Sq. North, New York 







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